Five Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel were killed and the co-pilot survived with injuries after an IAF An-32 transport aircraft crashed during landing at Jorhat Air Force Station in Assam on Saturday, June 13, 2026. The Indian Air Force has ordered a Court of Inquiry to determine the cause of the accident.
The aircraft, an Antonov An-32 twin-engine turboprop, came down at approximately 10:00 AM during what the IAF described as a “routine sortie.” The crash site is in the Rowriah area of Jorhat district. News channel NDTV broadcast footage from the site showing thick black plumes of smoke and the aircraft broken into pieces.
“Five Indian Air Force personnel have lost their lives in the air crash involving the AN-32 transport aircraft at the Jorhat air base in Assam. The co-pilot has survived and is being provided treatment,” the IAF said in an official statement.
Named Victims
According to defence officials cited by Republic World, those killed were Squadron Leader Prashant Singh, Flight Lieutenant Shubham Kumar, Sergeant Jitendra Sharma, Agniveervayu Khemaram Kumawat and Agniveervayu Danish Alam. The IAF had not released an official list of victims at the time of the initial government statement.
IAF Orders Court of Inquiry
In a post on X, the Indian Air Force said: “An IAF An-32 aircraft met with an accident today while landing at Jorhat. A court of inquiry is being constituted, to ascertain the cause of the accident.”
Defence PRO Lieutenant Colonel M. Rawat confirmed the accident and stated that the IAF was assessing the extent of losses. Senior IAF officials rushed to the crash site immediately following the incident. Firefighting teams were deployed as flames spread from the wreckage, and rescue crews worked to contain the fire and secure the crash zone.
The IAF urged members of the public to refrain from speculation pending the results of the inquiry.
Background: The An-32 and India’s Northeast Operations
The Antonov An-32 is a Soviet-era twin-engine turboprop that has served as the backbone of the IAF’s medium-lift transport capability for over four decades. India originally procured 125 of the aircraft from the Soviet Union in the 1980s; the fleet currently numbers approximately 105 aircraft. The type is valued for its capacity to operate in difficult terrain, including high-altitude Himalayan airfields and remote landing strips across India’s northeast, making it indispensable for logistics operations in the region.
This is not the first major accident involving the type at or near Jorhat. In June 2019, an An-32 that departed from Jorhat Air Force Station en route to Mechuka Advanced Landing Ground in Arunachal Pradesh lost contact approximately 33 minutes after take-off. The wreckage was subsequently found in the hills of Arunachal Pradesh; all 13 IAF personnel aboard were killed.
Assam’s Jorhat Air Base has also been the scene of other recent incidents. In March 2026, a Sukhoi-30MKI fighter jet that took off from Jorhat’s 47 Squadron crashed at Inglong Ekopi Hill in Karbi Anglong district during a routine training mission, killing both pilots.
What’s Next
The Court of Inquiry ordered by the IAF will examine flight data, maintenance records and eyewitness accounts to establish the cause of Saturday’s crash. Given that the aircraft came down during the landing phase, investigators are expected to focus on the approach, possible technical failure and prevailing weather conditions at Jorhat at the time of the incident. No preliminary findings have been released.
The IAF has not indicated whether the crash will affect ongoing operations at Jorhat Air Force Station.
Published in SouthAsianDesk, June 14, 2026
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