Chennai: Search for the missing IAF airplane, AN 32 now moves away from the coastline and into the dense forests of Vishakapatnam after reports that the tribal communities in the area had informed the authorities of finding objects that looked like the remains of a plane.

Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, N. Pradeep Kumar had confirmed that the Air Force Station, Suryalanka, near Bapatla in Guntur district, received information over the phone that the remains of an aircraft were found in the forests of Sarugudu.

Ten days have passed since the cargo flight AN-32 went missing, en route to Port Blair from the Tambaram Air Force Station. The plane had 29 persons on board, including eight civilians, six crew members, and 15 members of the IAF, Army, Navy, and the Coast Guard.

The air traffic control last contacted the airplane around 151 nautical miles east of Chennai. The plane went missing 15 minutes after take-off, around 300 km off Chennai. Extensive search along the coastline and the bottom of the sea turned up nothing.