Indian navy on alert for AirAsia rescue

Three ships and one maritime aircraft ready to help in SAR ops

NEW DELHI: Three Indian navy ships and a maritime surveillance aircraft have been put on alert to assist in search and rescue operations for the missing AirAsia aircraft that was operating flight QZ8501, Indian media reported.

Two Indian journalists tweeted that three ships and a Boeing P8-I fixed-wing aircraft were ready for deployment.

The OneIndia portal quoted navy spokesperson Capt D K Sharma confirmed that an offshore patrol vessel had left from Chennai, heading for Port Blair in the Andamans. Two other ships in the Andaman are on alert to respond to any request from the search and rescue operations.

- BERNAMA