Coast Guard files police complaint on missing aircraft

Ten days after its Dornier surveillance aircraft with three officers on board went missing, the Coast Guard filed a formal police complaint on the matter on Thursday.

A senior police official said the complaint was filed with the Airport Police Station in Chennai about the missing flight and its three crew members -- Deputy Commandants Vidyasagar, Subhash Suresh and M K Soni.

He declined to divulge further details.

The Dornier CG-791 aircraft had left the Coast Guard Air Station in Chennai on June 8 on surveillance activities along the Tamil Nadu coast and PalkBay but did not return to the base and has been missing since then.

Extensive search operations involving ships, helicopters and submarine besides other underwater search equipment have been undertaken since then, with a number of agencies including the Navy, Coast Guard and Coastal Security Group of Tamil Nadu police involved in them.

Still unable to trace the ill-fated aircraft, Coast Guard had on Wednesday announced its decision to deploy Reliance Industries' vessel, which has the capability of using high resolution cameras with remotely operating vehicle.