The air ambulance that crashed near Ranchi, killing all seven people onboard, was a 39-year-old Beechcraft aircraft with more than 6,600 flying hours, officials said on Wednesday.
The seven-seater plane went down in Jharkhand’s Chatra district on the night of February 23 while operating a medical evacuation flight from Ranchi to Delhi. A probe has been launched by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
Aircraft Details and Flight History
The aircraft was a Beechcraft C90A King Air, registered as VT-AJV and operated by Redbird Airways.
Manufactured in 1987, the twin-turboprop had accumulated approximately 6,610 hours of airframe time at the time of the accident. Officials noted that the aircraft was not considered overused based on these figures.
It was powered by P&W PT6A-21 engines, with roughly 2,900 hours logged on the left engine and 2,800 hours on the right. Both propellers had completed about 2,500 hours each.
The aircraft’s latest Airworthiness Review Certificate (ARC) was issued on January 21, 2026, and was valid for one year.
Timeline of the Crash
The flight departed Birsa Munda Airport at around 7:11 pm, bound for Indira Gandhi International Airport.
According to officials, the crew requested a weather deviation shortly after take-off. Communication and radar contact were lost approximately 23 minutes into the flight.
The aircraft later crashed in a forested area near Simaria in Chatra district.
Victims Identified
Those killed in the crash included:
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Patient Sanjay Kumar, 41
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A doctor
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A paramedic
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Two attendants
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Pilot-in-command Vivek Vikash Bhagat (around 1,400 flying hours)
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First officer Savrajdeep Singh (around 450 flying hours)
No Black Box Installed
The aircraft did not have a cockpit voice recorder (CVR) or digital flight data recorder (DFDR), commonly referred to as a black box.
Officials stated that under Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR), installation of a CVR or FDR was not mandatory for this category of aircraft at the time of its original certification in 1987.
Regulations specify that multi-engined turbine-powered aircraft with a maximum take-off mass of 5,700 kg or less, issued a Certificate of Airworthiness on or after January 1, 1990, “should” be equipped with an FDR. In regulatory language, “should” indicates a recommendation rather than a mandatory requirement.
The aircraft’s maximum take-off weight was 4,583 kg.
Investigation Underway
The DGCA has initiated a detailed investigation into the cause of the crash, including weather conditions, technical factors, and operational procedures.
Authorities are expected to release further findings after examining maintenance records, communication logs, and other technical data.
