Shimla, July 28 - The Indian Army has embarked on another expedition to locate the bodies of 98 defence personnel who died 41 years ago when the aircraft they were travelling in crashed Feb 7, 1968 in the rugged, cold and inhospitable Himalayan terrain of Himachal Pradesh.

A total of 102 defence personnel, including six crew members, were travelling by the Indian Air Force (IAF) AN-12 aircraft that was flying from Chandigarh to Leh. It crashed on the 17,400 foot high Dakka Glacier in the Chanderbhaga ranges in Lahaul and Spiti district. Only four bodies have so far been found.

'This year, scanty snowfall in the Himalayas has once again rekindled hope of finding the bodies of the victims and the aircraft's wreckage. It's still a mystery how the aircraft crashed as its black box is yet to be recovered,' Major Vasudevan of the Dogra Scouts, who is leading the expedition, told IANS.

The 20-member expedition mostly comprises mountaineers drawn from the Dogra Scouts.

'Four bodies were recovered during previous search operations carried out by the army and the air force. This time we are hopeful of retrieving more bodies as there was less snowfall during winter on the peaks of Dakka Glacier. Our priority would also be to recover the black box,' Vasudevan said.

The team will spend a week acclimatizing at its base camp at Bathal in Lahaul and Spiti district, 350 km from here, and set out on the 10-day search, named 'Op Phoenix', on Aug 5.