Air Ambulance crash: Family had taken Rs 8 lakh loan to fly patient Sanjay to Delhi for treatment after he suffered burns in fire at his hotel

The air ambulance crashed on Monday evening

• Family took Rs 8 lakh loan for air ambulance after burn injuries
• All 7 on board, including patient Sanjay Kumar, died in crash
• Aircraft crashes in Chatra after weather deviation request

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The family of Sanjay Kumar, the burn victim who died in the air ambulance crash in Jharkhand’s Chatra district, had reportedly taken a loan of Rs 8 lakh to arrange the flight that ended in tragedy.

Sanjay, a hotel owner from Chandwa town in Latehar district, had suffered severe burn injuries following a short circuit at his hotel last Monday. According to hospital authorities, he had sustained 65 per cent burns and was undergoing treatment in Ranchi before the family decided to shift him to Delhi for advanced care.

“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,” said Anant Sinha, CEO of Devkamal Hospital in Ranchi. “They arranged an air ambulance on Monday. The patient left the hospital for Delhi around 4.30 pm,” he added.

The air ambulance was chartered after the family borrowed money from relatives. Sanjay’s brother Ajay, who works with the Haryana government, said the family came from a very poor background. The aircraft had been hired to transport Sanjay to Gangaram Hospital in Delhi.

Sanjay’s wife Archana and a relative named Dhruv were among those on board. Two crew members and hospital staff were also part of the flight. All seven people died in the crash.

The Beechcraft C90 aircraft, operated by Redbird Airways Pvt Ltd, took off from Ranchi at 19:11 IST on Monday. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation said, "The aircraft took off from Ranchi at 19:11 IST. After establishing contact with Kolkata, it requested a deviation due to weather. At 19:34 IST, the aircraft lost communication and radar contact with Kolkata at approximately 100 nautical miles southeast of Varanasi."

Officials said the aircraft had sought an alternate route because of inclement weather shortly before losing contact. One official indicated that the crash occurred during a thunderstorm.

Simariya Block Superintendent Sumit Kumar Agarwal told news agency ANI, “We got information around 10 that an accident had happened Getting here was difficult considering the terrain,” describing the challenges faced by rescue teams in reaching the forested crash site near Simaria.

The Ranchi to Delhi medical evacuation flight went down shortly after takeoff in the Bariatu Panchayat area of Simaria in Chatra district. Rescue teams later confirmed that all seven occupants, including the patient and his family members, had died.