Wreckage of Indian Air Force's missing Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jet found

Guwahati: The wreckage of the Indian Air Force's missing Sukhoi-30 fighter jet, which went missing on Tuesday, was found in the dense forests of Arunachal Pradesh on Friday.

The fighter jet had disappeared with two pilots close to the China border.

Defence spokesperson, Tezpur 4 Corps, Lt Col Sombit Ghosh told news agency PTI that the wreckage of the missing SU-30 jet was found close to the last known position of the aircraft, which was 60 km northwest of Tezpur in Assam's Sonitpur district.

"As of now, the weather is bad and the place has dense foliage and members of the search operation are yet to reach the spot", he said.

A C-130 aircraft with electro-optical payload and ALH helicopters of IAF were being utilised for the search mission.

The Su-30 jet with two pilots on board took off from the IAF Tezpur airbase, located about 172 km from the India-China border in Arunachal Pradesh at around 9.30 am on a routine training mission on May 23.

It lost radar and radio contact with the controlling station at around 11.10 am near Arunachal Pradesh's Doulasang area, an area adjoining China, 60 km north of Tezpur.

Tezpur is one of the three IAF air bases in the country that host the Sukhois.

Last year, a Sukhoi-30MKI crashed near Nagaon town of Assam during a routine sortie. While the two pilots ejected safely, some locals suffered splinter injuries in the crash.

(With Agency inputs)