NEW DELHI, July 22 (Xinhua) — An Indian Air Force (IAF) plane with 29 people on board has gone missing in the Bay of Bengal probably due to bad weather, said officials.

The IAF's AN-32 plane took off from Tambaram in Chennai in southern India for Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the southeast of the Bay of Bengal, when it lost radar contact around 08:45 a.m. local time. Its estimated time of arrival in Port Blair was 11:30 a.m. but the plane failed to show up.

The Navy, the Coast Guard and the IAF have launched a joint search and rescue operation, said officials.