India continues search for air force plane lost near China

NEW DELHI – Indian authorities are continuing to search for an air force plane that went missing on Monday near the border with China.

The navy tweeted Wednesday that it has deployed long-range aircraft using infra-red sensors to search dense forest. The air force said on Twitter that it is using satellites to take pictures of the terrain during the day and ground teams with night-vision goggles to search by night.

Officials say the AN-32 plane was scheduled to land at 1:30 p.m. Monday at a high-altitude airstrip in Mechuka, a small town in the state of Arunachal Pradesh about 30 kilometres (19 miles) from the India-China border.

Arunachal Pradesh administrator Swatika Sachan says the plane last had contact with the ground at 1 p.m.