Seven souls perished when a vital air ambulance en route from Ranchi to Delhi met a fiery end in Chatra district, barely airborne. Redbird Airways’ Beechcraft C90 VT-AJV, airborne at 19:11, flickered briefly on scopes before vanishing 23 minutes later, crashing in Simaria’s rugged terrain.
The crew included Captains Vivek Vikas Bilagat and Sandeep Singh, shepherding patient Sanjay Kumar with support from Archana Devi and Dhruv Kumar (attendants), Dr. Vikas Kumar Gupta, and Sachin Kumar Mishra (paramedic). Ground reports from Kasaria Panchayat noted visible engine fragments, signaling total structural failure.
Post-takeoff, routine ATC handover to Kolkata occurred, but contact severed abruptly. DGCA affirmed the radar lapse, prompting SOP-driven alerts to state responders. District officials, flanked by police, cordoned the wreckage-strewn site for preliminary assessments.
AAIB’s elite investigators are mobilizing to dissect the catastrophe, zeroing in on meteorological interference or avionics faults. This calamity spotlights vulnerabilities in regional medevac flights, fueling debates on regulatory gaps. Airport vigilance has surged, with tributes pouring in for the heroes lost mid-mission.
In the shadow of this sorrow, stakeholders vow comprehensive reforms to safeguard tomorrow’s skyward saviors.