A team from the Indian Navy arrived in Jharkhand on Thursday to assist in the search for a trainer aircraft that went missing with a pilot and a trainee shortly after taking off from Jamshedpur’s Sonari aerodrome on Tuesday.
The search operation, which has been ongoing in the Chandil dam reservoir where the aircraft is suspected to have crashed, took a grim turn when a body was found floating in the water early this morning.
The Navy team, consisting of 19 members and specialised equipment, reached Ranchi just after midnight before heading to Jamshedpur to join the search efforts. "The Navy team from Visakhapatnam is now on the ground to assist in locating the missing aircraft," confirmed an official overseeing the operation.
Meanwhile, a senior official from the Seraikela-Kharsawan administration, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said, "A body was discovered floating in the dam. We are in the process of identifying it, but from the uniform, it appears to belong to one of the two individuals aboard the missing aircraft."
The missing aircraft, a Cessna 152 operated by Alchemist Aviation, was carrying pilot Captain Jeetu Sutaru and trainee pilot Subrodeep when it disappeared.
Villagers in the area reported seeing the plane crash into the dam’s reservoir, prompting the focused search efforts.
The search began immediately, with a six-member team from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) scouring the reservoir on Wednesday.
Additional searches are also being conducted in nearby areas, including Nimdih in Chandil sub-division and the adjacent Purulia district in West Bengal, according to Mukesh Kumar Lunayat, Superintendent of Police for Seraikela-Kharsawan.
The last known location of the aircraft was near Nimdih, as tracked by Air Traffic Control, East Singhbhum Deputy Commissioner Ananya Mittal said.
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