NEW DELHI (Sputnik) – Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar will visit the city of Chennai on the Bay of Bengal to monitor the situation around the missing Air Force aircraft, the Defense Ministry said.
"Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar will visit Chennai to monitor rescue operations of the missing Air Force aircraft," the ministry said in a Saturday statement.
On Friday, spokesman for the Indian Air Force Anupam Banerjee said that Indian Air Force AN-32 transport aircraft had disappeared from radars while flying over the Bay of Bengal with 29 people on board.
The plane took off from Tambaram Airbase and could fly for only four hours without refueling, according to Banerjee.
Two jets and four naval warships had been sent to the Bay of Bengal to carry out search and rescue operations, the spokesman said.
