Chatra

All seven people on board an air ambulance were killed after the aircraft crashed in Jharkhand’s Chatra district on Monday evening, officials said. The Beechcraft C90 aircraft operated by Redbird Airways Pvt Ltd was on a medical evacuation flight from Ranchi to Delhi when it went down around 7.30 pm.

The crash occurred in Kasariya Panchayat under Simariya block, killing two crew members and five others, including a patient and the patient’s family members.

Speaking to ANI, Vikash Kumar Gupta, father of one of the deceased, questioned the availability of medical facilities locally. “My elder son was posted at Sadar Hospital in Ranchi. If adequate treatment facilities were available here, there would have been no need to take the patient to Delhi,” he said.

Confirming the fatalities, Chatra Superintendent of Police Sumit Kumar Agarwal said information about the crash was received around 10 pm. “Reaching the site was challenging due to the difficult terrain. A team from Delhi will arrive for investigation and efforts will be made to recover the black box. The death toll stands at seven,” he said.

Deputy Commissioner Keerthishree G said preliminary findings point to adverse weather conditions. “The aircraft appears to have crashed during a thunderstorm. A medical team confirmed that all seven occupants were dead. Two were crew members, while the others were the patient and accompanying family members,” she said, adding that the exact cause would be established after a detailed probe by aviation authorities.

Officials said the aircraft took off from Ranchi at 7:11 pm and subsequently lost communication and radar contact with Kolkata air traffic control about 100 nautical miles southeast of Varanasi.

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A specialised team from Delhi is expected to reach the crash site to conduct further investigation and retrieve the black box. Authorities said a comprehensive inquiry into the incident is underway.