A Dornier surveillance aircraft of the Indian Navy with three personnel on board crashed into the Arabian sea, some 20 miles off the coast of Goa, late on Tuesday, officials said.
One of them was rescued and two others, including a woman officer, whose husband is also in the Navy, are missing, an officer said on Wednesday.
A Board of Inquiry has been ordered into the incident while the search is on to find the missing officers. Meanwhile, Indian Navy Chief Admiral Robin Dhowan is en route to Goa from New Delhi.
Nine ships including INS Satpura, INS Betwa, INS Subhadra, INS Koruva, INS Kondul, INS Makar, INS Matanga and ICGS Amal are in the area for search and rescue along with a few naval aircraft, the officer said.
The aircraft was from the 301 Naval Air Squadron based at INS Hansa near Dabolim in Goa.
It was on a training sortie, the official added.
“Commander Nikhil Joshi has been rescued by fishermen in the area. The search is on for the pilot and observer. We have pressed six naval ships and four aircraft to rescue them,” the officer said.
The naval air station at Goa lost communication with the aircraft at 10:02 pm, the spokesperson said.
“The last known position was 25 nautical miles southsouth west off Goa,” the officer said.
