An air ambulance carrying a critically burned patient to New Delhi crashed into dense forest in eastern India on Monday evening, killing all seven people aboard in a tragedy that ended a family’s desperate attempt to save their loved one.
The Beechcraft C90 aircraft, operated by Redbird Airways, lost radar contact at 7:34 p.m. local time—just 23 minutes after departing from Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand state. The plane went down in the Kasariya Panchayat area near Simaria in Chatra district, its wreckage scattered across heavily forested terrain approximately four kilometers deep into the woods.
Among the dead was 41-year-old Sanjay Kumar, a hotel owner who had suffered 65 percent burn injuries when an electrical short circuit sparked a fire at his modest establishment in Chandwa on February 16. His family had scraped together Rs 8 lakh (approximately $9,400) for the emergency medical flight, borrowing from relatives and friends to fund his transfer to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi for specialized care.
Also killed were Kumar’s wife, Archana Devi, and 17-year-old Dhruv Kumar, a relative who had dreams of becoming a mobile engineer but put his ambitions on hold to help care for his uncle. When Sanjay needed to travel to Delhi, Dhruv insisted on accompanying him—a decision that cost the young man his life. The couple’s two sons—Shivam, 13, and Shubham, 17—now face life without their parents.
“Sanjay and Archana used to run a dhaba. A fire broke out due to a short circuit and gas leakage,” a relative told reporters, adding that the family had consulted doctors about transporting him by road. “But the doctor told us that if we took him by road, he could collapse midway.”
The two pilots aboard the flight were Captain Vivek Vikas Bhagat, 28, and Captain Savrajdeep Singh. Bhagat, who had logged 1,700 flying hours, had applied for leave starting February 27 to attend a close friend’s engagement. His father, Dev Sahay Bhagat, an executive engineer with Jharkhand’s rural works department, was in his native village of Luti when he received the devastating news about his only son, who had become a captain just six months earlier.
Singh, a resident of Amritsar who had married just two years ago and had a three-month-old baby, served as co-pilot on the ill-fated flight. He had more than 300 hours of flying experience.
The fourth victim, Dr. Vikas Kumar Gupta, 34, an anesthesia specialist posted at Ranchi Sadar Hospital, had agreed to accompany the patient on short notice after a colleague declined. His father, Bajrangi Prasad, a humble resident of Bihar’s Aurangabad district, had sold every inch of his land to fund his son’s MBBS studies at Cuttack in Odisha. The doctor leaves behind a seven-year-old son.
Sachin Kumar Mishra, a paramedic, rounded out the manifest of those lost.
The aircraft departed Ranchi’s Birsa Munda Airport at 7:11 p.m. and requested permission to deviate from its flight path due to inclement weather shortly before losing contact. Air traffic controllers in Kolkata reported that the pilots sent no distress call before the plane disappeared from radar approximately 100 nautical miles southeast of Varanasi. Eyewitnesses in the area reported seeing the aircraft appear unstable before hearing a loud explosion amid light rain and poor visibility.
Keerthishree G, deputy commissioner of Chatra district, confirmed the deaths after rescue teams reached the remote crash site. The district administration sealed the wreckage pending the arrival of investigators.
Investigators face a significant challenge: the aircraft had no black box. Under civil aviation regulations, cockpit voice recorders and flight data recorders are not mandatory for aircraft with a maximum takeoff weight below 5,700 kg. The AAIB noted that the aircraft’s first Certificate of Airworthiness was issued in 1987, predating modern recording requirements. The probe will rely heavily on air traffic control data and eyewitness accounts.
India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation dispatched a five-member technical team to investigate the crash, along with officials from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau. The state government has also ordered its own probe into the incident, with Health Minister Irfan Ansari questioning how the aircraft received permission to fly during severe weather conditions.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren expressed grief over the tragedy, calling it “very unfortunate” and pledging government support for the affected families. Governor Santosh Kumar Gangwar also offered condolences.
Redbird Airways, incorporated in April 2018, obtained its non-scheduled flight permit in August 2019. The Delhi-based company operates six aircraft and specializes in charter flights and medical evacuation services across India.
Bodies of all seven victims were handed over to family members Tuesday afternoon following post-mortem examinations at Sadar Hospital in Chatra.