The 40-year-old design of the aircraft has several structural defects and needs to be replaced immediately, said Sunit’s father Surendranath Mohanty.
Bhubaneswar
Young Flight Lieutenant Sunit Mohanty’s parents have been left devastated after their son went missing along with 12 others, who were all on-board Indian Air Force’s An-32 aircraft that went off the radar on Monday.
Sunit’s father Surendranath Mohanty has also served in the IAF for 33 years. The retired Group Captain said, “I have flown the An-32 for five to six years.
Talking to media “The 40-year-old design of the aircraft has several structural defects and needs to be replaced immediately. Many accidents have happened and several families have been destroyed due to the aircraft. I was lucky but, luck may not favour everyone.” report said.
Lieutenant Sunit Mohanty was aboard the ill-fated AN-32 transport aircraft of Indian Air Force (IAF) that went missing over Arunachal Pradesh Monday.
The 28-year-old pilot was part of the eight-member crew on the fateful day. There were total 13 fliers including eight crew members on board.
Flight Lieutenant Sunit is a son of former IAF employee Surendranath Mohanty of Baliapalli village under Kabisuryanagar block in Ganjam district. He had joined IAF back in 2012. He was the co-pilot of the missing plane.
While the search for the missing aircraft is on , Air Marshal RD Mathur , AOC-in-C , Eastern Air Command, has announced a cash award of Rs 5 Lakhs for the person(s) or group who provide credible information leading to finding of the aircraft .
His family members have gone to Assam after getting the news of the plane going untraced. Some officials including Eastern Air Command Air Marshal RD Mathur met and spoke with the family members after the incident.
Meanwhile, the joint operation by Indian Army, Navy, and Air Force is still on to trace the missing plane. But the inclement weather condition is said to be causing delays.
IAF’s AN-32 plane Monday took off from Jorhat in Assam and went missing while flying towards Mechuka in Arunachal Pradesh. Its connection with the control room got cut off at 12:30pm that day.
