New Delhi, February 23 (IANS). The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said on Monday that an air ambulance coming from Ranchi to Delhi, carrying seven people, crashed in Kasaria Panchayat in Chatra district of Jharkhand.
The district administration’s search-and-rescue team is at the spot and an AAIB team is being sent to investigate. The aviation regulator said in a statement that further information would be shared.
“On February 23, Beechcraft C90 aircraft VT-AJV of Redbird Airways Pvt Ltd, which was operating a medical evacuation (air ambulance) flight on ‘Ranchi-Delhi’ sector, crashed at Kasaria Panchayat in Chatra district of Jharkhand. There were seven people on board, including two crew members,” the DGCA said.
The aircraft took off from Ranchi at 7:11 pm. After making contact with Kolkata, at 7:34, the aircraft lost communication and radar contact with Kolkata, about 100 nm south-east of Varanasi. It was a medical charter flight of Beechcraft King Air (BE9L) from Ranchi to Delhi (operated by Delhi’s Redbird Airways). It took off at 7.07 pm and lost contact at 7.34 pm near Palamu in north-western Jharkhand.
The seven people on board included 1 patient, 1 doctor, 1 paramedic, 2 attendants, 1 pilot and 1 co-pilot. The rescue operation was ongoing as further information was not yet available. The estimated time of landing in Delhi was 10 pm. It lost contact with air traffic control at 7:34 pm.
It is being told that the plane crashed in the forest area near Karmatand village under Simaria police station area of Chatra district. Local people informed the administration about hearing a loud noise in the forest and seeing a plume of smoke rising, after which the police and district administration team left for the spot.
The search operation is being conducted based on radar data and the last known location of the aircraft. Due to dense forest and inaccessible terrain, relief and rescue operations are facing difficulties.
Local administration, police force and disaster management teams are jointly engaged in the operation. According to sources, ED CAP (Emergency Data Centralized Action Plan) is monitoring the entire incident and information is being collected moment by moment.
Senior officials of the Civil Aviation Department and security agencies are also keeping an eye on the situation. At present, the reasons for the accident are not clearly known. Official information about the cause of the accident will be revealed only after detailed investigation.
–IANS
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