The air force has located small portions of the AN-12 aircraft that crashed into Greater Himalayas near Manali in 1968, killing all the 100 soldiers on board.

Unconfirmed reports say remains of a body, too, have been found.

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A spokesperson for the IAF said the crucial black box of the flight is yet to be found.

The IAF and army last week started an exercise to locate the remains, which are believed to be near Rohtang Pass. The efforts followed the discovery of the remains of one soldier by a team of mountaineers near Dhaka glacier last month.

However, the efforts have been severely hampered by the inability to land bigger choppers in the Dhaka glacier area. "It is a moving snow. We can only land Cheetah with a passenger, which is of no use to us," an IAF officer said.

So for the time being the IAF has suspended 'chopper operations', the officer said.

"We need to carry equipment and more people to the area. We are waiting for the army team to build a helipad for bigger choppers to land," he said.

"The bodies and wreckage has been there for 35 winters, so it is also possible that most of it is covered under heavy snow."