Indian Air Force Antonov An-32 Crashes While Landing in Assam

An Indian military transport aircraft crashed on Saturday while attempting to land at an air force station in the country’s remote northeastern region, according to a statement from the military.

The Indian Air Force confirmed that the Russian-made Antonov An-32 “met with an accident today while landing at Jorhat,” a city located in Assam state.

The statement did not provide information regarding casualties or specify how many personnel were aboard the aircraft at the time of the crash. The air force noted, “A court of inquiry is being constituted, to ascertain the cause of the accident.”

Footage broadcast by a news channel showed the crash site, with thick black smoke rising into the air and the aircraft appearing to have broken apart upon impact.

The An-32 is a twin-engine turboprop aircraft specifically designed for reliable performance at high altitudes and under extreme weather conditions. The Indian Air Force maintains a fleet of approximately 100 such aircraft, which are used for military logistics and civilian relief operations in the country’s most remote mountainous regions.

The most recent major incident involving this aircraft type occurred in 2019 in Arunachal Pradesh state, near the border with China, resulting in 13 fatalities.