An Indian Air Force military planed crashed on Saturday during landing in the eastern state of Assam, killing five personnel on board.

The twin-engine military transport aircraft used in high-altitude regions crashed at around 10am soon after take-off.

The air force said the accident happened during a routine sortie involving an Antonov AN-32 aircraft at around 10am at Jorhat, Assam.

“Crash site management and initial enquiries are on at this time. IAF requests everyone to refrain from speculation till preliminary results are not in,” it said.

The IAF said it “deeply regrets the loss of five personnel” in the crash, releasing the names and pictures of those killed. “IAF extends its deepest condolences to the bereaved families and stands firmly with them in this hour of grief,” it said.

Visuals from the crash site show the An-32 resting on its side with its fuselage ripped open and extensively damaged by fire. The aircraft appeared to have split into two from the midsection, leaving the tail twisted upwards as rescue teams inspected the wreckage.

Six personnel were reportedly on board, and one was rescued. The rescued member remains in serious condition.

“A court of inquiry is being constituted to ascertain the cause of the accident,” the air force said.

Those killed in the crash have been identified as Squadron Leader Prashant Singh, Flight Lieutenant Shubham Kumar, Sergeant Jitendra Sharma, Agniveervayu Khemaram Kumawat and Agniveervayu Danish Alam.

Indian defence minister Rajnath Singh said he was “deeply anguished by the loss of five air warriors”.

Referring to all the personnel by their names, he said they “made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty”.

“Their courage and service to the nation will always be remembered with pride and gratitude. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families. The nation stands firmly with them in this hour of grief,” he wrote on X.

Designed by the Soviet-era Antonov Design Bureau, India inducted the An-32 in the 1980s. It is a rugged variant of the An-26, designed to work in India’s hot and mountainous terrain.

Indian forces have been reportedly planning to phase out the ageing fleet by 2032, but over 100 of these are still in service. The aircraft has played a crucial role in maintaining logistics links to remote and strategically important areas, such as Leh and Ladakh, including forward air bases and posts in the Himalayas.

This marks the third major crash of an AN-32 in the last 10 years. In July 2016, at least 29 people were killed when an AN-32 went missing while flying from Chennai to Port Blair. The wreckage was located nearly five years later after an extensive search operation.

Another 13 were killed on 3 June 2019 when another AN-32 crashed in the mountainous terrain of Arunachal Pradesh, near the border with China, after losing contact with air traffic control. All those on board were killed.