Air ambulance with 7 onboard to Delhi from Ranchi crashes in Jharkhand's Chatra

An air ambulance with seven people onboard to Delhi from Ranchi crashed in a forest near Simaria in Jharkhand's Chatra district on Monday, Ranchi airport Director Vinod Kumar said. Search and rescue teams have been dispatched, but there was no immediate confirmation about casualties, officials said. The crash occurred after the air ambulance took off from Ranchi airport at about 7.10 pm. ''An air ambulance from Ranchi with seven people onboard crashed near Simaria in Chatra district. The report of the crash was received from the state administration,'' Airport Director Kumar told PTI. The ambulance had lost contact with air traffic control around 20 minutes after takeoff. Inclement weather could be a reason behind the crash, but the actual reason will be ascertained only after a probe, Kumar added. The DGCA in a statement said, ''On 23.02.2026 Redbird Airways Pvt Ltd Beechcraft C90 aircraft VT-AJV operating medical evacuation (Air Ambulance) flight on sector Ranchi-Delhi crashed in Kasaria Panchayat of Chatra district, in Jharkhand.'' There were seven people on board, including a 41-year-old patient and two crew members. ''The aircraft was airborne from Ranchi at 19:11 IST. After establishing contact with Kolkata at19:34 IST, aircraft lost communication and RADAR contact with Kolkata at approximately 100 NM South-East of Varanasi,'' it added. The district administration's search and rescue team has been sent, and an Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) team is being dispatched for investigation. Chatra Deputy Commissioner Keerthishree G said, ''The aircraft went missing around 7.30 pm. It crashed at Bariatu Panchayat in Simaria.'' The DC told PTI that she cannot confirm the casualties right now, as the place of occurrence is deep in the forest. ''A team has been sent. We can confirm when the team reaches there,'' she added. Chatra SP Sumit Kumar Agarwal said that the crash site is deep in a forest. ''The police team is yet to reach the spot, so we are not in a position to confirm the number of casualties.'' Meanwhile, as per the DGCA website, Delhi-based non-scheduled operator Redbird has six planes in the fleet, including the one which crashed on Monday evening. The CEO of Devkamal Hospital in Ranchi, Anant Sinha told PTI that the air ambulance was arranged by one of the patients. ''The patient Sanjay Kumar (41), a resident of Chandwa in Latehar district, was brought to the hospital with 65 per cent burn injuries on February 16. He was being treated in the hospital,'' he said. Sinha added that the family members decided to take him to Delhi for better treatment. ''They arranged an air ambulance on Monday. The patient left the hospital for Delhi around 4.30,'' he said.