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He said the organisation was running models estimating the distance to where the plane debris would have been carried by the sea current.
"In the Bay of Bengal there are several whirlpools that may have dragged down the debris," he added.
Eastern Naval Command chief Vice Admiral H.C.S. Bisht said that a large number of ships, helicopters and aircraft are contributing to the search.
"We are also seeking ISRO's help to get satellite imagery of that area so that we have at least some information… Parallelly we are also reaching out to families," he said.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, after reviewing the search and rescue operations on Saturday, had asked the commanding officers to keep in touch with families of those on board the
missing aircraft.
Bisht said the search has been made difficult by the monsoon weather conditions over the sea.
"The only challenge we are facing is of monsoon condition, rough seas; another challenge is the depth which is around 3,500 meters and at some points even more than that," he said.
The cloud base is low and it is raining continuously in the area, he said.
"We are continuously searching the area. As of now we have 12 ships. We will be increasing the assets. We are also doing regular aerial surveillance. The aim is to harness as many resources
as possible."
The missing aircraft, an upgraded AN-32 belonging to 33 Squadron, took off from Tambaram Air Force Station in Chennai at 8.30 a.m. and was expected to land at Port Blair in the Andaman and
Nicobar Islands at 11.30 a.m.
The recorded transcript of Chennai air traffic radar showed the last pickup of the aircraft was 151 nautical miles east of Chennai when it was observed to have carried out a left turn with
rapid loss of height from 23,000 feet.
The AN-32 is a twin engine turboprop, medium tactical transport aircraft of Russian origin. It can carry a maximum load of around 6.7 tonnes or 39 paratroopers. Its maximum cruise speed is
530 kmph. (IANS)