After a long wait for a breakthrough in the case of the missing Indian Air force aircraft AN-32, there seems to be some headway. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar today said that a flocating object was found in the Bay of Bengal but could not confirm whether it belonged to the missing aircraft AN-32, which disappeared last Friday. "Some floating objects have been found, but it is yet to be ascertained if they are of the AN-32 aircraft," said Manohar Parikar. He further said that no compromises would be made in the rescue operations of the aircraft with 29 people on board.

The plane had gone missing during its flight from Chennai to Port Blair with 29 people onboard on July 22. It had left the Tambaram air base near Chennai at 8.30 AM on Friday and was supposed to land at Port Blair at around 11.45 AM. It fell off the radar at 9.12 AM, 280 km east of Chennai. The plane made the last radio contact at 8:46 AM, 16 minutes after take-off, when the pilot reported that "everything is normal". "13 Naval vessels, 2 Coast Guard ships besides assets from Andaman and Nicobar islands are engaged in the operations," Coast Guard Commander (East) Inspector General Rajan Bargotra told reporters.