News-Info-Alerts

Re: Crash Site Located 35 Years Later

From: POW-MIA InterNetwork

Date: August 13, 2003

""Bid to salvage bodies of IAF men in '68 crash
August 07, 2003 21:59 IST

Thirty-five years after the crash of an Indian Air Force AN-12 aircraft near Rohtang La, teams from the army, IAF and the Himachal Pradesh government will launch an operation to salvage 19 bodies of servicemen and the wreckage.

The Leh-bound four-engine aircraft was declared lost on February 7, 1968, in bad weather. Last week a team of adventurers stumbled upon the crash site near the 16,000-feet-high Dhaka glacier between Rohtang La and Batal. Most of the bodies were intact under the snow.

"Our ground teams along with teams from army and Himachal directorate of adventure have reached Manali and we propose to launch an air and land salvage operation soon," an IAF spokesperson said in New Delhi.

He said operations were hindered on Thursday due to bad weather, but 'we are hopeful of bringing some of the bodies down tomorrow'."

AND

"AN-12 crash: Picking up pieces of past

Jyoti Kamal

Chandigarh, August 10: The salvage operations launched by the Indian Airforce in a joint operation with the Army and the adventure wing of the Himachal Pradesh government to retrieve the wreckage and bodies of 102 defence personnel who were killed in an AN-12 crash near Rohtang Pass has touched an emotional chord amongst veterans of the AN-12 aeroplanes. These aircraft were phased out by the Indian Airforce in 1993.

Wing Commander D S Ahluwalia (retd): Even though the incident took place 35 years back, what has now been found would change the lives of relatives and friends and of the AN-12 pilots and passengers. We are particularly interested as we have ourselves flown or navigated An-12 craft and hence are keen to know what happened to the aeroplane. Every crash teaches lessons for those who continue to fly. There had been doubts among the relatives that perhaps the aeroplane strayed into Pakistani territory and perhaps the people might still be languishing in Pakistani jails. Now that would be over.

Wing Commander I S Bhuttar (retd): There are two aspects to the retrieval of the bodies. One is the emotional aspect and the other is the legal aspect. The classification of a person as ‘missing in action’ or as ‘killed in action’ makes a lot of difference to the benefits and status that the family of the defence personnel is accorded. Till such time that the bodies have been found, the persons have been categorised as ‘missing in action’. In any case, there is a huge emotional baggage that is associated with not being able to know the fate of a near and dear one. I think this is a belated action, but none the less a very important move.

Wing Commander D S Bajwa (retd): Well, we knew that the aircraft had crashed. Instead of Pakistan being the suspect area where the personnel on board the craft could have gone to, we were suspecting that it could be China, since that is closer to where the craft was last contacted. However, even now I think chances of all bodies being retrieved are remote. In any case it would lay doubts to rest. The parents of the pilot died hoping that he would come back. All living relatives and friends would now know that the wait is over, and the people on board the AN-12 would never return.

©2002: Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd."

AND

"Kin of crash victims relive tragedy
Pratibha Chauhan
Tribune News Service

Manali, August 10
It was 35 years back that these families had lost their loved ones in the AN-12 aircraft crash at the Dakka Glacier, but with the Army and Air Force launching a search operation to locate the remains of the 100 persons on board this aircraft, the families of those who perished in the crash are once again reliving those tragic moments.

Be it the family of Chennai-based Mr Sundram, whose father, a wireless operator with the Air Force crew, went missing after the Leh-bound aircraft crashed, which took off from Chandigarh on February 7, 1968, or the 100 other families, they were all anxiously waiting for the outcome of the search operation, launched from Bathal, today.

As 10 personnel from the Air Force Advance Cell, Delhi, and 25 men from Dogra Scouts, Chandigarh, embarked on their difficult mission today, the hope of at least getting the remains of their loved one had once again been rekindled. There were a number of such families all over India, who had been making inquiries from the Army headquarters and the Mountaineering Institute here, ever since some climbers chanced upon the body of a soldier Beli Ram, who was on the same flight.

“Though mountaineers had spotted parts of the wreckage of the aircraft in the slopes facing the Chandrabhaga (CB-13) peak, but it was only after the body of a soldier was identified from his service documents, that the Army decided to launch a search operation in the 16,000 feet area,” said Col H.S. Chauhan, Director of the Himalalyan Mountaineering and Allied Course Directorate.

“With the South Dakka Glacier, being 7-km-long and half-km-wide, the chances of recovering the remains are rather bleak, but keeping in view the sentiments of the families who lost their members, we will go ahead with the task,” admitted an Army official. The search would continue for the next 10 days and depending on the progress, further decision would be take by the Army headquarter, he added.

Colonel, Chauhan, who is assisting the search team in its task, said that about 50 metres stretch on both sides of the spot where the body was found, would be searched. “There is a high probability that the aircraft hit the CB-13 range and crashed, but since 35 years have elapsed and the ice being hard like glass, it seems a rather difficult task,” said Colonel Chauhan. He added that the body of Beli Ram, probably got exposed due to movement of a glacier, under which it was lying buried.

Two Air Force choppers had undertaken an serial survey of the area last month so that rescue operations could be undertaken in case of an emergency. After the aircraft carrying Army and Air Force personnel went missing in 1968, search had been carried out for six months, before the operation was suspended."