A tragic air ambulance crash in Jharkhand’s Chatra district claimed the lives of all seven people on board, including two crew members.
SP Sumit Kumar Agarwal confirmed the fatalities to ANI, saying, “We received information around 10 pm that an accident had occurred. Reaching the site was challenging due to the terrain. A team from Delhi will arrive for investigation and to recover the black box. The total number of deaths is seven.”
Deputy Commissioner Keerthishree G indicated that a thunderstorm likely caused the crash. “It crashed due to a thunderstorm. Sadly, the medical team found all on board dead. Among the seven, two were crew members, while the rest included a patient and the patient’s family members,” she said.
The Deputy Commissioner added that while bad weather appears to be the primary cause, the exact reason will be confirmed only after a detailed investigation by aviation authorities.
The Redbird Airways Pvt Ltd Beechcraft C90 aircraft, registered VT-AJV, was operating a medical evacuation flight from Ranchi to Delhi when it went down in Kasariya Panchayat, Simariya block, around 7:30 pm.
The aircraft had departed Ranchi at 19:11 IST and lost communication and radar contact with Kolkata roughly 100 NM south-east of Varanasi.
Officials said a Delhi-based investigation team will reach the crash site to probe the incident and recover the aircraft’s black box.
According to DGCA sources, after establishing initial contact with Kolkata, the aircraft requested a deviation due to adverse weather. At 19:34 IST, contact was lost, and the plane disappeared from radar. All necessary SOPs are being followed by the authorities, and the State administration has been fully informed.
