Air ambulance that crashed in Jharkhand had no black box, probe on to find if radar was faulty

The air ambulance crashed on Monday evening

• Air ambulance crash in Jharkhand kills all seven on board
• No black box on plane, complicating investigation efforts
• Probe focuses on weather radar issues and crew actions

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The air ambulance that crashed in Jharkhand on Monday night, killing all seven people aboard, was not equipped with a black box, officials aware of the matter said, complicating the probe into the accident.

Sources said the absence of cockpit voice recorders and flight data recorders is consistent with existing aviation norms, which do not mandate such equipment for aircraft weighing under 5,700 kg. The investigation will therefore depend on communication logs with air traffic controllers, debris examination and eyewitness statements.

Experts are also examining whether a malfunctioning weather radar on the aircraft may have played a role in the crash of the Beechcraft C90 King Air operated by Redbird Airways Pvt Ltd.

The aircraft, travelling from Ranchi to Delhi, went down in the Kasaria area of Chatra district.

Investigators are trying to determine whether the onboard weather radar was faulty or if the flight crew misinterpreted radar data while navigating through stormy conditions. The route had also seen deviation requests from two commercial flights earlier that evening.

An IndiGo aircraft had asked for a left deviation, while another flight operated by Air India sought safer routing amid the weather.

Officials are studying whether the crew misread the radar display or whether a technical failure affected the instrument’s performance.

The victims included patient Sanjay Kumar, a doctor, a paramedic, two attendants and the two pilots. The pilot in command was Vivek Vikash Bhagat, who had accumulated nearly 1,400 flying hours, while first officer Savrajdeep Singh had approximately 450 flying hours.

The aircraft involved was manufactured in 1987 and later changed ownership multiple times. Records show that Redbird Airways Pvt Ltd acquired it in 2022 from the Orient Flying School, which itself had purchased the plane in 2001.

Officials noted that the aircraft reportedly remained unused between 2018 and 2022, although the reasons behind the inactivity could not be independently confirmed.

Following another recent aviation accident involving a charter jet, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation had ordered a special audit of charter operators. It was not immediately known whether the air ambulance operator was part of that inspection.

A team from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has been deployed to the crash location.

Civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu expressed grief over the tragedy in a post on social media platform X, stating that he was deeply saddened by the loss of lives and that local authorities along with AAIB teams were assisting in rescue and investigative work.

Aviation analyst Mark Martin said witness testimony would be crucial in reconstructing the final moments of the flight. He added that while some operators voluntarily install recording equipment in lighter aircraft, the Beechcraft C90 is an older model and regulatory standards were less advanced when it was manufactured.

Investigators are focusing on whether the aircraft entered clouds and suddenly pitched downward, whether a fire broke out on board, or whether violent air currents such as updrafts or downdrafts affected its stability.

According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the flight departed Ranchi at 7.11 pm and was scheduled to reach Delhi around 10 pm.

Control of the aircraft was transferred from Ranchi ATC to Kolkata Area Control shortly after take-off.

The plane was expected to cross the ATALI waypoint but veered off the planned track. Radar contact was last recorded at 7.22 pm when the aircraft was flying at 13,800 feet and approximately 40 nautical miles from Ranchi.

The final radio communication was made at 7.34 pm with Kolkata air traffic controllers. After that, both radar and voice contact were lost roughly 100 nautical miles south-east of Varanasi.

The aircraft did not establish contact with controllers in Lucknow or Varanasi, triggering search and rescue operations by the Kolkata Rescue Coordination Centre.