The Aryavarth Express Chatra (Jharkhand): A tragic air ambulance crash in Jharkhand’s Chatra district on Monday evening claimed the lives of all seven people on board, including two crew members.
The aircraft, a Beechcraft C90 operated by Redbird Airways Pvt Ltd, was on a medical evacuation flight from Ranchi to Delhi when it crashed in Kasariya Panchayat under Simariya block at around 7:30 pm.
Dr. Vikash Kumar Gupta, father of one of the deceased, said his elder son had been posted at Sadar Hospital in Ranchi and had to travel to Delhi due to inadequate medical facilities locally. “If there had been proper health facilities here, why would they have gone to Delhi for treatment?” he told ANI.
Confirming the fatalities, Chatra Superintendent of Police Sumit Kumar Agarwal said authorities received information about the accident around 10 pm. He noted that reaching the crash site was challenging due to difficult terrain. “The total number of deaths is seven. A team from Delhi will come here for investigation and to recover the black box,” he said.
Deputy Commissioner Keerthishree G indicated that adverse weather conditions may have contributed to the crash. “It crashed due to a thunderstorm. Unfortunately, doctors confirmed that all seven onboard had died. Two were crew members, and the remaining five included a patient and the patient’s family members,” she said.
She added that while preliminary findings suggest bad weather as a possible cause, the exact reason will be determined after a detailed investigation by aviation authorities.
Officials said the air ambulance took off from Ranchi at 7:11 pm IST and later lost communication and radar contact with Kolkata when it was approximately 100 nautical miles southeast of Varanasi.
A team from Delhi is expected to arrive at the crash site to conduct a thorough probe and retrieve the aircraft’s black box. Further investigation into the incident is underway.
