Mechuka Advanced Landing Ground is an
Indian Air Force
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...
airstrip located at
Mechuka
Mechukha or Menchukha (In Memba dialect, 'Men' means Medicine, 'Chu' means Water -streams, rivers, etc. & 'Kha' means Snow; Meaning "the land blessed with medicinal snow-fed water- river & streams") is a town, assembly constituency and subdivis ...
in
Shi Yomi district
Shi Yomi district is one of the 23 districts of Arunachal Pradesh state in northeastern India. Shi-Yomi district was created on 9 December 2018 by dividing the West Siang district when northern areas along the China border were made into a newly ...
of
Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It share ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
. It is an
Advance Landing Ground (ALG) of
Indian Air Force
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...
.
History
In June 2019,
An Indian Air Force Plane carrying 13 en route from
Jorhat Airport
Jorhat Airport , also known as Rowriah Airport is a domestic airport serving Jorhat, Assam, India. It is located at Rowriah, which is situated 7 kilometres south-west from the city centre.
History
It was established in early 1950s and commo ...
in
Assam
Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
went missing while en route to the airstrip. The aircraft's wreckage was found in the
Siang district
Siang District is the 21st district of Arunachal Pradesh State, India. This district was created in 2015 by carving it out of the West Siang and East Siang districts of Arunachal Pradesh. The regions included in the district were the legislative ...
after eight days after being spotted by an
MI 17
The Mil Mi-17 (NATO reporting name: Hip) is a Soviet-designed Russian military helicopter family introduced in 1975 (Mi-8M), continuing in production at two factories, in Kazan and Ulan-Ude. It is known as the Mi-8M series in Russian servic ...
helicopter that was on a search & rescue mission.
Military usage
The area has a significant military presence, which also creates some employment opportunities for civilians.
[ The airstrip is used frequently to bring in vital supplies from ]Assam
Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
via Antonov-32
The Antonov An-32 (NATO reporting name: Cline) is a turboprop twin-engined military transport aircraft.
Design and development
The An-32 is essentially a re-engined An-26. It is designed to withstand adverse weather conditions better than the ...
aircraft and helicopters. The runway was renovated, strengthened, upgraded to a concrete runway and extended to 4,700 feet in 2017 by the government.
Civil aviation usage
There is a twice-weekly helicopter service offered under the UDAN
''Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik'' ( Hindi for "Let the common citizens of the country fly"), known by its acronym ''UDAN'' ( Hindi for "flight") is a regional airport development program of the Government of India and part of the Regional Connect ...
scheme on Monday and Saturday.[ ]Government of Arunachal Pradesh
The Government of Arunachal Pradesh also known as the State Government of Arunachal Pradesh, or locally as State Government, is the subnational government of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh and its 25 districts. It consists of an exec ...
has invited bids from the private airlines to operate a 9-searter fixed-wing air service which will not be under the UDAN scheme.[Arunachal Pradesh plans fixed-wing flight service to Mechuka, closest to China border]
The Hindu, 15 May 2018.
As of December 2022, the new passenger terminal for handling passenger traffic is almost completed, and is expected to begin operations soon with Alliance Air's Dornier 228
The Dornier 228 is a twin- turboprop STOL utility aircraft, designed and first manufactured by Dornier GmbH (later DASA Dornier, Fairchild-Dornier) from 1981 until 1998. Two hundred and forty-five were built in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. In ...
passenger aircraft.
See also
; Military bases
* List of ALGs
* List of Indian Air Force stations
The Indian Air Force currently operates seven Air Commands. Each command is headed by an Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the rank of Air Marshal.
The Air Force currently has over 60 air stations all over India. These are grouped into sev ...
* India-China military deployment on LAC
* List of disputed India-China areas
* Tianwendian
Tianwendian () is the name of a border outpost and a military defence area of China in the northern Aksai Chin region under its administration (as part of Xinjiang). The region is roughly equivalent to the portion of Depsang Plains under Chi ...
* Ukdungle
Ukdungle is a small Indian Army military compound entirely contained within a 40 by 70 meter area in Leh district, Ladakh in northern India, 48 km west of Demchok village on the Line of Actual Control with Tibet. Nurbula pass is close ...
; Borders
* Line of Actual Control
The Line of Actual Control (LAC), in the context of the Sino-Indian border dispute, is a notional demarcation lineAnanth KrishnanLine of Actual Control , India-China: the line of actual contest, 13 June 2020: "In contrast, the alignment o ...
(LAC)
* Borders of China
China shares international land borders with 14 sovereign states. In addition, there is a internal border with the special administrative region of Hong Kong, which was a British dependency before 1997, and a internal border with Macau, a Port ...
* Borders of India
The Republic of India shares borders with several sovereign countries; it shares land borders with China, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar. Bangladesh and Pakistan share both land borders as well as maritime borders, while Sri Lanka ...
*
; Conflicts
* Sino-Indian conflict
* List of disputed territories of China
* List of disputed territories of India
; Other related topics
* India-China Border Roads
India-China Border Roads (ICBRs, ICB Roads) is a Government of India project for developing infrastructure along the Sino-Indian border by constructing strategic roads, including bridges and tunnels. The ICBR project is largely in response to ...
* List of extreme points of India
The extreme points of India include the coordinates that are further north, south, east or west than any other location in India; and the highest and the lowest altitudes in the country. The northernmost point claimed by India is in territory disp ...
* Defence Institute of High Altitude Research
The Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR) is a defence laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) located in Leh city of Ladakh in India. It conducts research on cold arid agro-animal technologies.
His ...
* Indian Astronomical Observatory
The Indian Astronomical Observatory (IAO) is a high-altitude astronomy station located in Hanle, India and operated by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics. Situated in the Western Himalayas at an elevation of 4,500 meters (14,764 ft), th ...
References
External links
IAF's ALG
{{Airports in India
Shi Yomi district
Airports in Arunachal Pradesh
Indian Air Force bases
Airports with year of establishment missing