Indian military transport plane crashes while landing in Assam

Jorhat: An Indian military transport aircraft crashed on Saturday while attempting to land at an air force station in the country’s northeastern region, according to an Indian Air Force statement.

The aircraft involved was a Russian-made Antonov An-32, which the air force said “met with an accident today while landing at Jorhat

in Assam state. The statement did not specify whether there were any casualties and also gave no information on how many people were aboard the plane at the time of the crash.

The Indian Air Force said an investigation would be launched into the incident.

“A court of inquiry is being constituted, to ascertain the cause of the accident”, the statement said.

Television broadcaster NDTV aired footage from the site showing a large column of black smoke rising from the area, while the aircraft appeared to have broken apart.

The Antonov An-32 is a twin-engine turboprop aircraft designed for operations in high-altitude areas and harsh weather conditions. The Indian Air Force uses around 100 of these aircraft to transport military supplies and deliver civilian assistance to some of the country’s most inaccessible mountain regions.

The last major crash involving an An-32 took place in 2019 in Arunachal Pradesh, near the border with China, when 13 people were killed.