NEW DELHI, July 27: The Government has proposed to set up a National Aeronautical Search and Rescue Services Board to deal with the eventuality of an aircraft going missing or crashing.
The objective of National Aeronautical Search and Rescue Services is to search for a missing aircraft, its crew and passengers and to provide aid and organise the rescue of survivors of aircraft accidents, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma told Lok Sabha.
With this objective, the draft National Aeronautical Search and Rescue manual provides for constitution of a National Aeronautical Search and Rescue Coordination Committee (NASARCC), making it responsible for National Aeronautical Search and Rescue Services in the Indian Search and Rescue Region (ISRR) over land area for handling aeronautical exigencies, the Minister said.
Recently, the debris of a missing Coast Guard Dornier aircraft and its Flight Data Recorder were found at a depth of 950 metres under the sea in Tamil Nadu after 33 days of intensive search involving multiple government agencies.
The Dornier aircraft with three crew members on board took off from Chennai on June 8 on a routine surveillance flight and had gone missing.
However, the unrelenting and uninterrupted search, which included 693 hours of surface effort and 196 hours of air effort, finally yielded positive results.
The Minister however, said that no timeline has been fixed for the purpose as it involves wide range of consultations with various participating agencies.
Presently, in case of exigencies, the Airports Authority of India Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC) coordinates with agencies concerned including Army and Air Force, Sharma said. (PTI)
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