Itanagar, June 11: On the ninth day of search operation, the security forces have finally succeeded in locating the missing AN-32 aircraft. According to the statement issued by the Indian Air Force (IAF), parts of the ill-fated military plane has been recovered from north of Lipo region in Arunachal Pradesh.

The IAF, which had deployed MI-17 chopper for aerial surveillance on Tuesday, spotted the wreckage of AN-32 aircraft nearly 16 kilometres to the north of Lipo region. AN-32 Plane Had SOS Signal Unit That is Old and No Longer Produced

"The wreckage of the missing AN-32 was spotted today 16 Kms North of Lipo, North East of Tato at an approximate elevation of 12,000 feet by the IAF Mi-17 Helicopter undertaking search in the expanded search zone," the IAF said in its statement.

Update by ANI:

Statement Issued by IAF:

Missing IAF AN-32 Aircraft: Know All About This Ageing Transport Plane:

The AN-32 aircraft had went missing on June 3, shortly after taking off from Jorhat at around 12:27pm, and was scheduled to reach Mechuka at 1:30pm. However, it went off radar nearly 33 minutes after the take-off.

A total of 13 people were on board the plane, which is used by the IAF for transportation purpose. All of them are feared to be killed in the accident.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 11, 2019 03:29 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).