Belthangady: It is suspected that Ekanath Shett of Guruvayankere might be one among the crew member of the IAF flight which went missing at Bengal Bay on Friday.

It is reported that Ekanath Shetty has called his family members before boarding the flight and it has suspected that he might be the one among the 29 crew.

He had come to home on leave and returned to his base, just four days ago. He was joined to Indian Army from where he was shifted to the Defence Service Corps of Indian Air Force.

His wife serves as a lecturer at SDM institutions, Ujire.

It is also reported that Ekanath Shetty had informed the family that he might not aboard the Friday’s flight due to some minor surgery, but there is no response from Ekanath since the missing time of the aircraft.

IAF officials haven’t released an official list of the crew.

An IAF aircraft AN-32 had taken off from Tambaram airbase at morning 8.30, with 29 crews. At 11.30 am it was supposed to be landed in Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar, but the flight lost the contact as soon as its take off. When the flight disappeared it was at 23,000 ft above the sea level and travelling at a speed of 280 km per hour.

Massive search operations are being conducted by the department by deputing nine aircrafts, sixteen ships and one sub marine for it.