Air ambulance with 7 onboard to Delhi from Ranchi crashes in Jharkhand’s Chatra

RANCHI: (Feb 23) An air ambulance with seven people onboard to Delhi from Ranchi crashed near Simaria in Jharkhand’s Chatra district on Monday, Ranchi airport Director Vinod Kumar said.

There was no immediate confirmation about casualties.

The crash occurred after the air ambulance took off from Ranchi airport at about 7.10 pm, the official said.

“An air ambulance from Ranchi with seven people onboard crashed near Simaria in Chatra district. The report of the crash was received from the state administration,” Airport Director Kumar told PTI.

The ambulance had lost contact with air traffic control around 20 minutes after takeoff.

The DGCA in a statement said, “On 23.02.2026 Redbird Airways Pvt Ltd Beechcraft C90 aircraft VT-AJV operating medical evacuation (Air Ambulance) flight on sector Ranchi-Delhi crashed in Kasaria Panchayat of Chatra district, in Jharkhand.”

There were seven people on board, including two crew members.

“The aircraft was airborne from Ranchi at 19:11 IST. After establishing contact with Kolkata at19:34 IST, aircraft lost communication and RADAR contact with Kolkata at approximately 100 NM South-East of Varanasi,” it added.

The district administration’s search and rescue team is at the location, and an Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) team is being dispatched for investigation, the statement said.

Chatra Deputy Commissioner Keerthishree G told PTI, “The aircraft went missing around 7.30 pm. It crashed at Bariatu Panchayat in Simaria.”

The DC said she cannot confirm the casualties right now, as the place of occurrence is deep in the forest.

“A team has been sent. We can confirm when the team reaches there,” she added.