Indian air ambulance crashes in Jharkhand
The aircraft had been conducting an interfacility transfer when it crashed, killing all seven people on board
A fixed-wing air ambulance operated by Indian firm Redbird Airways has crashed in a forest in the state of Jharkhand.
The Beechcraft C90 had been carrying a burns victim from Ranchi to Delhi when it crashed in the Kasiyatu forest in Jharkhand’s Chatra district on the evening of 23 February. All seven people on board were killed.
The aircraft departed Birsa Munda Airport in Ranchi at approximately 19:11 hrs local time, and established contact with air traffic controllers in Kolkata at 19:34 hrs, before losing communication and radar contact southeast of Varanasi, shortly before crashing.
According to a report by the Hindustan Times newspaper, the plane had been carrying 41-year-old patient Sanjay Kumar, who was being transferred between medical facilities. Also on board were Dr Vikas Kumar Gupta and paramedic Sachin Kumar Mishra; two attendants, Archana Devi and Dhuru Kumar; and two pilots, Vivek Vikas Bhagat and Savrajdeep Singh.
Indian authorities are currently investigating the cause of the crash, which has not yet been determined.
Tata Advanced Systems Limited recently inaugurated India’s first private-sector helicopter final assembly line (FAL) for the Airbus H125 at Vemagal, Karnataka.
Oliver Cuenca
Oliver Cuenca is a Junior Editor at AirMed&Rescue. He was previously a News and Features Journalist for the rail magazine IRJ until 2021, and studied MA Magazine Journalism at Cardiff University. His favourite helicopter is the AW169 – the workhorse of the UK air ambulance sector! He also led the creation of Waypoint: The AirMed&Rescue podcast, serving as its Production Editor and co-host.