Indian Air Force Confirms Five Deaths in An-32 Crash in Jorhat, Two Were Agniveer Personnel

There have been eight crashes of the Antonov transport airplane since the eighties, when it was commissioned, in which over 100 have died. The survivor of Saturday's clash is the sole survivor of any of these crashes.

The Wire Staff

indian air force confirms five deaths in an 32 crash in jorhat two were agniveer personnel

Sgt Jitendra Sharma, Flt Lt Shubham Kumar, Agniveervayu Khemaram Kumawat, Agniveervayu Danish Alam and Sqn Ldr Prashant Singh (L to R). Source: Indian Air Force @@IAF_MCC/X

New Delhi: The Indian Air Force confirmed the death of five including the pilot of an Antonov An-32 transport plane that crashed in Jorhat, Assam, on Saturday, June 13. The co-pilot survived the crash with injuries, which occured during landing at the local air force base in the morning.

The causes for the incident are yet to be ascertained. The air force has set up a court of inquiry, the regular procedure in such matters. The sole survivor is reported to be under treatment.

"The Indian Air Force (IAF) deeply regrets the loss of five personnel in the An-32 accident at Jorhat, Assam," a statement issued by the air force said on X. The accident was confirmed earlier on Saturday, without sharing more detail.

The Indian Air Force deeply regrets the loss of five personnel in the An-32 accident at Jorhat, Assam.
Sqn Ldr Prashant Singh, Flt Lt Shubham Kumar, Sgt Jitendra Sharma, Agniveervayu Khemaram Kumawat and Agniveervayu Danish Alam made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty.… pic.twitter.com/9SmOjtS5mU
— Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) June 13, 2026

Squadron Leader Prashant Singh, Flight Lieutenant Shubham Kumar, Sergeant Jitendra Sharma, Agniveer Vayu Khemaram Kumawat and Agniveer Vayu Danish Alam are the deceased in the crash. The An-32 they were flying was carrying load apart from the personnel, said reports.

Images from the scene taken by locals showed a plume of smoke rising to the skies in Jorhat's airf force base and the mangled remains of the plane, which appeared to have nosedived on the tarmac in its final moments and split in two.

The Soviet origin and Ukrainian-made Antonov 32 or An-32 is a transport plane used over several decades by Indian armed forces to move personnel and supplies. It can operate in a wide range of conditions including mountaineous terrains while carrying heavy loads. The aircraft carries a turboprop twin-engine, which means it has two engines running on jet fuel that turns a propellor.

Accidents like the one on Saturday have occurred in the past, in the 1980s when it was commissioned by India a decade after it was designed by Antonov Design as well as in the 1990s. There have been four crashes since 2009.

The most lethal accident with the An-32 was in 2016, in which 29 died while flying over the Bay of Bengal. Debris from that crash was recovered only in 2024. The wreckage of a previous flight carrying seven personnel in 1986 over the Arabian Sea were never found and all were presumed dead. Over 105 have died in An-32 crashes, with the co-pilot who survived Saturday's incident the only survivor recorded in any crash.

This article went live on June thirteenth, two thousand twenty six, at twenty-nine minutes past five in the evening.

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