An air ambulance carrying seven people crashed in Jharkhand’s Chatra district today, the aviation regulator DGCA said today. The pax manifest showed two pilots, a patient, two attendants, a doctor and a paramedic.
The aircraft, a Beechcraft C90 operated by Redbird Airways Pvt Ltd, took off from Jharkhand’s capital Ranchi at 7.11 pm. It lost radar contact 23 minutes later.
“After establishing contact with Kolkata, at 19:34 IST aircraft lost communication and radar contact with Kolkata at approximately 100 NM south-east of Varanasi,” the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a statement.
The Beechcraft C90’s tail number was VT-AJV.
“The district administration search and rescue team is at the location and AAIB team is being dispatched for investigation. Further information will be shared,” the DGCA said.
The patient, a 41-year-old man, had suffered 63 per cent burn injuries in an accident. He was undergoing treatment in an intensive care unit (ICU). He was being taken to Delhi for advanced medical care.