India's defense minister was overseeing an aerial search of the Bay of Bengal on Saturday for an air force transport plane that disappeared with 29 people aboard. The aircraft went missing Friday en route from the southern city of Chennai to Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar islands. The flight, covering 1,375 kilometers (854 miles), was supposed to last three hours. The Russian-made AN-32 could go for four hours without refueling, AP quoted Defense Ministry spokesman Nitin Wakankar as saying. The ministry said in a tweet that Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar was overseeing the massive search operation for the plane, which was making a routine courier flight and was carrying service personnel along with the crew. Air force spokesman Anupam Banerjee said the last communication from the plane was about 15 minutes after takeoff.
