Jharkhand air ambulance crash: No black box on board; probe to rely on ATC data, eyewitness accounts, say officials

A medical evacuation aircraft that crashed in Jharkhand's Chatra district on Monday night, killing all seven people on board, did not carry a black box a factor that investigators say will complicate efforts to determine the exact cause of the accident.

The Beechcraft C90 King Air, operated by Delhi-based Redbird Airways Pvt Ltd, was flying from Ranchi to Delhi when it went down in the Kasaria area. Those killed included patient Sanjay Kumar (41), a doctor, a paramedic, two attendants and two pilots: pilot-in-command Vivek Vikash Bhagat, who had around 1,400 flying hours, and first officer Savrajdeep Singh, with about 450 hours of experience.

No black box on board, probe to rely on ATC data and eyewitness accounts

Under current civil aviation norms, cockpit voice recorders (CVR) and flight data recorders (FDR) are not mandatory for aircraft weighing less than 5,700 kg. As per regulations, all aeroplanes with a maximum certificated take-off mass above 5,700 kg and issued an individual certificate of airworthiness on or after January 1, 1987 must be equipped with a CVR.

Similarly, under CAR Section-2, Series I, Part V (para 4.1.2), multi-engined turbine-powered aeroplanes with a maximum certificated take-off mass of 5,700 kg or less and issued an airworthiness certificate on or after January 1, 1990 are required to be fitted with a Flight Data Recorder (FDR) recording at least the first 16 parameters listed in Appendix I.

Investigators said the Redbird aircraft fell outside these mandatory requirements, meaning the absence of CVR and FDR will force authorities to rely heavily on air traffic control communication, wreckage examination and eyewitness accounts to reconstruct the sequence of events.

Weather deviation, aircraft history under scrutiny

Preliminary focus has also turned to weather conditions. Two commercial flights operated by Air India and IndiGo reportedly encountered severe weather along a similar route earlier and sought deviations to avoid it. While the IndiGo aircraft requested a leftward diversion, the ill-fated air ambulance had sought a right deviation. Officials are examining whether the aircraft's onboard weather radar malfunctioned or whether the crew misread the situation.

The aircraft, manufactured in 1987, was acquired by Redbird Airways in 2022 from Orient Flying School, which had owned it since 2001. Officials indicated that the plane remained unused between 2018 and 2022, though the reason has not been verified.

Timeline of the flight

According to Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) details, the flight departed Ranchi at 7:11 pm and was handed over to Kolkata Area Control shortly after. It was expected to cross the ATALI waypoint but deviated from its route. The last radar contact occurred at 7:22 pm at an altitude of 13,800 feet, about 40 nautical miles from Ranchi. Final radio communication was recorded at 7:34 pm, after which contact was lost roughly 100 nautical miles southeast of Varanasi, prompting search and rescue operations.

An Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) team has reached the crash site and begun a detailed inquiry. Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu expressed condolences and said authorities responded swiftly to the tragedy.