"Eighty per cent of the aircraft's parts have been retrieved, besides human bones and wrist watches from the sea bed," I G Coast Guard S P Sharma said here today, adding the search operation was "terminated" last night.
The authorities have called the families of the crew for carrying out DNA tests for identification of the deceased and collecting the remains and personal effects.
On July 11, 33 days after the Dornier aircraft vanished over the sea off Tamil Nadu coast on June 8, its debris and the flight data recorder (FDR) were located 950 metres under water. Reliance Industries vessel 'Olympic Canyon' and a submarine from National Institute Of Ocean Technology were involved in the operation.
A massive search and rescue operation had been quickly mounted by Indian warships and planes for the missing aircraft and crew comprising pilot S Vidhya Sagar, co-pilot Subash Suresh and observer M K Soni soon after it had gone off the radar. Along with an INS submarine, a total of eight ships and aircraft had been pressed into action during 'Operation Talaash', described by Coast Guard as "first ever salvage at such depths".
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The FDR is likely to provide crucial data that could help ascertain the cause of the accident. Sources in the Coast Guard said the fact that the components were found "at a phenomenal depth" confirmed that the aircraft had crashed into the sea and also pointed to the severity of the crash.
"Indian Naval Submarine Sindhudhavaj, whilst on task for locating the missing aircraft, picked up a barrage of transmissions at a depth of 996 metres on July 6. This information was a vital source for deployment of the Reliance vessel, M/v Olympic Canyon, to localise the search," a Coast Guard statement said.