The Hindu : Tragedy on silver jubilee day

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 02, 2002

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National

Tragedy on silver jubilee day

By Arunkumar Bhatt

MUMBAI Oct. 1. It was an irony for the Indian Naval Air Squadron (INAS) 315 as it lost two of its anti-submarine warfare and maritime reconnaissance aircraft on its silver jubilee day.

A pall of gloom descended on naval and shipping circles in Mumbai, the country's premier naval base and largest port, following today's accident in Goa.

Mariners and sailors are familiar with the Navy's IL-38, which provide search and rescue cover to merchant vessels across the Indian Ocean rim, responding quickly to the SOS messages from ships of any flag — Indian or foreign, merchantman or fisherman.

INAS 315 has won laurels in war and peace. The Winged Stallions had won a Nausena medal when they provided succour to the crew of m.v. Najd when it was in distress.

The eagle-eyed flying sailors had spotted in the vast expanse of the Indian Ocean, m.v. Progress Light, the vessel on which rebels were fleeing after the Indian armed forces aborted their coup attempt in the Maldives in Operation Cactus. They then guided two frigates, INS Godavari and INS Betwa, to seize the rebel ship.

Within a year of its raising, INAS 315 had surveyed the sea with a magnetic anomaly detector (MAD) and located the wreckage of the Air-India jumbo, Ashok.

The squadron was commissioned at INS Hansa, the premier Naval Air Station of the Western Naval Command, where the accident occurred.

Of the eight Il-38s, the squadron is now left with six. In war, the IL-38 is used in anti-submarine warfare and for maritime reconnaissance (MR), virtually acting as an eye in the sky. Armed with anti-shipping missiles, the aircraft can attack a hostile ship and, using MAD, it can even detect submarines. It can also take on homing strike aircraft. The aircraft has a formidable range of 9,800 km and an endurance level of up to 12 hours.

The importance of these aircraft can be gauged from the fact that they are kept at four hours' notice around the year. The loss of 12 trained and experienced personnel and two aircraft in such tragic circumstances will definitely affect the INAS 315.

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