Seven dead as Jharkhand air ambulance crashes near Chatra
Seven dead as Jharkhand air ambulance crashes near Chatra
Seven people on board a medical air charter from Ranchi to Delhi were killed when the Beechcraft C90 crashed near Simaria in Chatra district, Jharkhand.
Seven people were killed after an air ambulance transporting a patient from Ranchi to New Delhi crashed in Jharkhand’s Chatra district on Monday night. The flight, which was expected to reach the national capital by 10pm, crashed before it could reach Delhi.
The Beechcraft C90, operated by Delhi-based Redbird Airways with tail number VT-AJV, took off from Ranchi Birsa Munda Airport at 7:11pm. Official contact with the aircraft was lost around 7:34pm, with radar contact ceasing approximately 100 nautical miles southeast of Varanasi before it went down in the forest near Simaria in Chatra.
Ranchi airport sources cited by reports noted that the medical flight had established contact with the next station after takeoff, before control was handed over and contact was lost. There were reports that the flight had requested deviation due to weather conditions prior to the loss of communication. By 10:20pm, all seven onboard — including the pilot, co-pilot, patient and medical staff — were confirmed dead. Rescue and recovery teams faced difficult terrain as they reached the crash site in Bariatu Panchayat, Simaria.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has launched a formal probe into the incident, and a team from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is expected to reach the site to recover the black box and gather data. Officials said the Delhi-based carrier and local authorities would collaborate in the investigation as they assess weather, flight planning, and operational factors that might have contributed to the tragedy.
