What was meant to be a life-saving journey turned into one of the deadliest aviation tragedies in Jharkhand’s history, leaving seven families shattered and searching for answers.
On Monday night, a Beechcraft C90 air ambulance operated by Redbird Airways crashed near Simaria in Chatra district while flying a critically ill burn patient from Ranchi to New Delhi. Battling severe stormy weather, the aircraft requested a change in flight path before it suddenly disappeared from radar, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Local residents reported strong winds, heavy rain, lightning and thunder at the time of the crash, saying the aircraft hit the ground with a loud sound during the storm. Authorities later recovered parts of the plane in a dense forest near Simaria. All seven people on board were killed.
The flight had taken off from Ranchi carrying Sanjay Kumar, a hotel owner from Latehar who had suffered 60–65% burn injuries after a gas cylinder explosion at his small hotel. With his condition failing to improve, his family arranged for him to be shifted to Delhi for advanced treatment. “Sanjay Prasad had suffered severe burns. He was admitted to a hospital. There was no improvement in his condition during treatment, so we wanted to shift him to Delhi. In that process, we arranged a private jet, but it crashed,” a relative said. The aircraft was headed to New Delhi in the hope that better medical facilities would save his life. Instead, the attempt ended in tragedy.
Ranchi MP and Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth said the weather changed suddenly. “The weather had been clear during the day, but suddenly it changed. A yellow alert had been issued, followed by lightning, thunder, strong winds and heavy rain. It will be known only after the investigation whether bad weather, human error or a technical problem caused the crash.” The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is investigating the incident, with the black box expected to reveal what led to the crash.
Redbird Airways, owned by Akshay Yadav, was established in 2018 and received its permit for non-scheduled flight operations in 2019. According to DGCA records, the company operates a fleet of six aircraft, including the Beechcraft C90 involved in Monday evening’s crash. Air ambulances are designed to transport critically ill patients to cities with advanced treatment facilities — missions that are often urgent and high-risk. State Health Minister Irfan Ansari called it the biggest plane crash in Jharkhand. “An air ambulance's job is to save lives, and it is a matter of concern that those who were saving lives themselves lost their lives,” he said, adding that seven bodies were brought to Chatra Sadar Hospital and postmortem examinations had been conducted.
The victims were identified as Captain Vivek Vikas Bhagat, Captain Savrajdeep Singh, Sanjay Kumar, Dr Vikas Kumar Gupta, Sachin Kumar Mishra, Archana Devi and Dhuru Kumar. On board were two pilots, a doctor, a paramedic, the critically injured patient, and two of his relatives — his wife and nephew — accompanying him to Delhi for treatment.
For the families left behind, the loss is immeasurable. Dr Vikas Kumar Gupta had boarded the flight to accompany the patient. His father spoke of the sacrifices made to educate him. “My son was a doctor. He told me he was going to Delhi with patients, but later I learned the aircraft had crashed and my son is no more. I sold my farmland to educate him.” He questioned the lack of advanced medical infrastructure in the state: “If there had been proper health facilities here, why would they have gone to Delhi for treatment?”
Sanjay Kumar’s relatives said their attempt to save him ended in a catastrophe that destroyed their family. “Our home has been completely destroyed. Not just one home, many families have been ruined,” a family member said. He added, “If proper treatment had been available in Ranchi itself, we would not have had to take him to Delhi. And in the process of taking him to Delhi, this tragedy happened — my entire family has been wiped out.
Our very existence has been shattered. There are two children who have now become like orphans. What will happen to them, I do not know.” He also expressed anger, alleging that the “government here is incapable and is doing nothing.”
For the family of paramedic Sachin Kumar Mishra, the grief is deeply personal. “My younger brother, Sachin Kumar Mishra, was everything to me. He was like my own child. He was my whole life and my entire world,” a relative said. Having lost their father earlier, the family depended on him. “He was the foundation of my life, my everything. Without him, my life feels completely incomplete.” Despite advice to take a hospital job instead of working in emergency transport, he continued in ambulance services. “We had advised him many times to take a hospital job instead and not take such a big risk. I asked him to stay with me.”
As investigators work to determine whether severe weather, human error or a technical fault caused the crash, seven families are left to confront an unbearable loss, sources said. What began as a desperate effort to save a life has ended with seven lives gone — and a state in mourning.
