India Air Force plane crash kills all five onboard

NEW DELHI, Jun 13: An Indian military aircraft crashed on Saturday during a routine flight, killing all five people on board, the Indian Air Force said in a social media post on X.

The IAF said the accident, which occurred in the eastern Indian state of Assam, involved an An-32 aircraft - a turboprop, twin-engine transport plane.

The five killed in the accident were all Indian Air Force personnel, it said, adding that initial inquiries and crash site management were ongoing.

News channel NDTV broadcast images of the crash site, showing a thick black plume of smoke and the aircraft apparently broken into pieces.

The air force said it "extends its deepest condolences to the bereaved families and stands firmly with them in this hour of grief".

It said earlier that the Russian-made Antonov An-32 was on a "routine sortie" when it crashed as it came in to land.

"A court of inquiry is being constituted, to ascertain the cause of the accident," the air force said.

The An-32, a twin-engine turboprop, is specially designed to perform well at high altitudes and in extreme climates.

The Indian air force operates about 100 of them for military supplies and civilian aid in the country's remotest mountain areas.

The last major crash involving the plane occurred in 2019 in Arunachal Pradesh state, near the border with China, when 13 people were killed.�"AGENCIES