NEW DELHI – A tragic air ambulance accident in eastern India has claimed the lives of all seven individuals on board, including a patient being transported for emergency medical care along with his family members and flight crew, authorities confirmed Tuesday.
The fatal incident occurred Monday when a Beechcraft C90 aircraft operated by Redbird Airways departed from Ranchi, the capital city of Jharkhand state. According to India’s aviation authority, the pilot contacted air traffic control requesting permission to alter the planned flight route because of adverse weather conditions.
Contact with the medical transport plane was subsequently lost, with both communication and radar tracking ending abruptly, aviation officials reported.
“We have pulled out the bodies and sent them for post-mortem and further investigation,” said Keerthishree G, the deputy commissioner of Chatra district, where the crash occurred during a thunderstorm.
The patient aboard the doomed flight, identified as Sanjay Kumar, had suffered injuries in a fire incident and was receiving medical treatment in Ranchi before his condition deteriorated, prompting the emergency transport to Delhi.
“His condition had become worse so we were taking him to Delhi by air ambulance,” said Vijay Sau, his older brother.
India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has deployed a specialized team to determine what caused the deadly crash. Aviation safety experts note that such investigations typically require a minimum of one year to complete, as most aircraft accidents result from multiple contributing factors.
This marks the second significant aviation tragedy in India within recent weeks. In January, a Learjet 45 charter flight crashed, resulting in five fatalities including Maharashtra state’s deputy chief minister and two staff members.
