‘My life has changed since June 8’: Families receive news of Coast Guard Dornier with fear

The flight data recorder recovered from the crashed Dornier aircraft. (Source: PTI)

Suresh’s mother Padma Suresh said they were yet to get any official information. “Around 5 pm today, there was a message in our WhatsApp group that debris has been found. Coast Guard officials shared that information. We are also following reports in the media. Do you have any information about the missing crew?” she said. “My life has changed ever since June 8. Now that there are reports of debris having been found, I do not know how to deal with it,” she said.

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Subash’s relative Venkitesh said the Coast Guard had requested the families to wait for more information.

A relative of Soni, too, said the family was awaiting more information.

The FDR is likely to provide crucial data that could help ascertain the cause of the accident. Sources in the Coast Guard said the fact that the components were found “at a phenomenal depth” confirmed that the aircraft crashed into the sea and also pointed to the severity of the crash. Sources said the families of the missing crew may now be informed about the fate of their kin.

With no headway in the search operations, the families of crew members had sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s help. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, too, had tweeted on Wednesday: “One month on still no trace of missing #ICGDornier & its brave crew. My prayers are with the families.”

“Indian Naval Submarine Sindhudhavaj, whilst on task for locating the missing aircraft, picked up a barrage of transmissions at a depth of 996 metres on July 6. This information was a vital source for deployment of the Reliance vessel, M/v Olympic Canyon, to localise the search,” a Coast Guard statement said.

The search, called Operation Talaash, included 693 hours of surface effort and 196 hours of air effort to pull off the “first ever salvage at such depths”.

Along with the INS submarine, a total of eight ships and aircraft had been pressed into action.

The Dornier aircraft CG-791, belonging to the Coast Guard, was deployed for surveillance along the Tamil Nadu coast and Palk Bay from the Coast Guard Air Station, Chennai. The last contact with the aircraft was at about 9 pm on June 8, and the Trichy radar tracked the aircraft until 10.23 pm at 95 nautical miles south of Chennai.

#ICGDornier Flash: Photo of the recovered Flight Data Recorder (FDR) of the crashed aircraft in the Bay of Bengal. pic.twitter.com/Ut842mxAr8

— Sitanshu Kar (@SpokespersonMoD) July 10, 2015

#ICGDornier Debris located in position 17 NM frm nearest land & approx 20 NM SE of Cuddalore in 950 m depth. pic.twitter.com/QiNahunDnZ

— Sitanshu Kar (@SpokespersonMoD) July 10, 2015

#ICGDornier The vital Flight Data Recorder and one Line Replacement Unit of the ill-fated aircraft recovered. pic.twitter.com/N0gTOjGJBW

— Sitanshu Kar (@SpokespersonMoD) July 10, 2015

#ICGDornier Here are the details of the efforts leading to locating the missing aircraft’s debris. pic.twitter.com/z0RPDklY4m

— Sitanshu Kar (@SpokespersonMoD) July 10, 2015

#ICGDornier Debris located by ROV Support Vessel, Olympic Canyon, thru TX detected by INS Sindhudhwaj. pic.twitter.com/y9n3ca2qII

— Sitanshu Kar (@SpokespersonMoD) July 10, 2015