The Jharkhand government has sought help from the Indian Navy and the NDRF to trace the debris of the trainer aircraft that went missing along with two pilots on Tuesday morning just minutes after take-off from the Jamshedpur airport.

A team of the NDRF took part in the rescue and search operation at the Chandil Dam and the nearby forest areas in Seraikela-Kharsawan, nearly 36km from Jamshedpur
on Wednesday.

“A team from NDRF searched for the missing persons and the planes not only in the dam but also in the nearby forest. We have found a pair of shoes of the trainee pilot. We had zeroed in on Chandil dam based on the last GPS location of the trainer aircraft and information received from the locals,” said East Singhbhum deputy commissioner
Ananya Mittal.

The Jamshedpur Airport managed by Tata Steel is located in Jamshedpur, which falls under East Singhbhum district.

Seraikela-Kharsawan deputy commissioner Ravishankar Shukla said that a team from the navy would be arriving on Wednesday night.

“The NDRF searched the dam and the nearby forest along with local divers and villagers. We have sought the Indian Navy’s help and their team will be arriving on Wednesday night and will take part in the search operation on Thursday,” said Shukla.

Administrative officials informed that local villagers who were taking a bath at the dam had informed them that a plane had crashed into the water.

The two-seater Cessna 2 model trainer aircraft was owned by Jamshedpur-based Alchemist Aviation Private Limited and had Shubhrodeep Dutta, a resident of Adityapur in Seraikela-Kharsawan district as the trainee pilot operating the flight under the guidance of captain Jeet Shatru, a resident of Patna. The aircraft lost contact with the air traffic control at around 11.15am on Tuesday.

The website of the Alchemist Aviation Private Limited claims to have been operating flight training since 2008 and offers private pilot and commercial pilot licences duly recognised by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.