DGCA, AAIB teams probe Chatra air ambulance crash; postmortem done, evidence collection to continue tomorrow

Chatra (Jharkhand) [India], February 24 (ANI): A team of Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday reached the location of the tragic air ambulance crash in Jharkhand's Chatra district that claimed the lives of all seven people onboard, including two crew members.
The Redbird Airways Pvt Ltd Beechcraft C90 aircraft, registered VT-AJV, was operating a medical evacuation flight from Ranchi to Delhi when it crashed on Monday evening in Kasariya Panchayat, Simaria block. DGCA officials are collecting evidence from the wreckage to carry out further investigation.
Speaking to ANI, Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Shubham Khandelwal said that the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has collected key evidence and will continue investigations tomorrow. He further said that locals reported the aircraft losing balance before it crashed, and recovery and postmortems of all bodies have been completed.
"AAIB (Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau)'s team had come here. They collected all the documents and evidence they deemed important. They will collect evidence tomorrow as well. They will then inform us of their investigation. The local villagers have also given their statements regarding the manner in which the crash occurred. Locals say that they saw the aircraft losing balance. It crashed 2-3 seconds later. Deployment will continue here. Yes, bodies have handed over, and a postmortem has been done," Khandelwal said to the reporters.
Furthermore, eyewitness Pawan Yadav, from whom the DGCA team collected statements, said, "They asked me what I saw and where I was. I told them that we were sitting outside our house in our village when we heard the sound and saw the aircraft. We felt it was losing balance when suddenly we heard a loud boom. The weather was bad, and there was light rain. I told them everything I saw."
Simaria BJP MLA Kumar Ujjwal Das described the incident as "unfortunate," noting that he remained in touch with the local administration throughout the night, despite heavy rain and thunderstorms.
"I received information at around 8.15 pm when I reached Ranchi. I was caught in a thunderstorm near Budhmu. I then called up the local administration here. They told me that they were heading to the spot. I was in touch with the district administration all through the night. It was raining heavily. It is an unfortunate incident," Das told ANI.
A tragic air ambulance crash in Jharkhand's Chatra district on Monday claimed the lives of all seven people onboard, including two crew members. The Redbird Airways Pvt Ltd Beechcraft C90 aircraft was operating a medical evacuation flight from Ranchi to Delhi when it crashed in Kasariya Panchayat, Simariya block, at approximately 7:30 pm.

The aircraft had taken off from Ranchi at 19:11 IST and lost communication and radar contact with Kolkata at approximately 100 NM South-East of Varanasi.
As per an official statement from the Council of Indian Aviation, the aircraft had taken off from Ranchi at 19:11 IST and lost radar and communication contact near 100 NM south-east of Varanasi. (ANI)