Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar landed in Chennai on Saturday to oversee search and rescue operations for an Indian Air Force flight that went missing the day before. The AN-32 transport flight was carrying 29 people and flying from Chennai to Port Blair. It was due to land around 11.30 am on Friday and has been missing for well over 24 hours now. Parrikar will also reportedly conduct an aerial survey.

The aircraft departed from Tambaram air base in Chennai 8.30 am on Friday and disappeared off the radar at 9.12 am, 280 km east of Chennai. The flight might have rapidly fallen from a height of around 23,000 feet, NDTV reported an officer as saying. At least 12 ships and one submarine have been deployed to assist in search operations.

However, the search was called off late on Saturday evening because of low visibility, ANI reported.