Ranchi air-ambulance crash: 39-year-old Beechcraft with 6,600 hours crashes in Chatra
Ranchi air-ambulance crash: 39-year-old Beechcraft with 6,600 hours crashes in Chatra
Seven aboard a 39-year-old Beechcraft air ambulance crashed after a weather deviation request, with no flight recorders on board.
A seven-seater Beechcraft C90A air ambulance crashed in forested terrain near Simaria in Chatra district, Jharkhand, after taking off from Ranchi for Delhi's IGIA. The aircraft, registered VT-AJV and manufactured in 1987, had accumulated about 6,610 hours of airframe time. Officials said the crew sought a weather deviation shortly after departure, and communication and radar contact were lost roughly 23 minutes later before the wreckage was located near Simaria.
The crew and passengers on board included patient Sanjay Kumar, 41, a doctor, a paramedic, two attendants, pilot in command Vivek Vikash Bhagat (around 1,400 flying hours), and first officer Savrajdeep Singh (about 450 hours). The Beechcraft was powered by Pratt & Whitney PT6A-21 engines, with left engine at about 2,900 hours and right engine at about 2,800 hours; propellers were around 2,500 hours each. Importantly, the aircraft did not carry a cockpit voice recorder (CVR) or a DFDR, and its latest Airworthiness Review Certificate was issued on January 21 this year and valid for one year, as per civil aviation norms.
The flight departed Birsa Munda Airport in Ranchi around 7:11 pm for Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport. Investigators are focusing on weather conditions and the loss of communication as they begin to piece together the sequence of events. This crash is noted as the third civilian aviation incident since June, underscoring ongoing concerns about regional air safety.
