All 7 On Board Ranchi-Delhi Air Ambulance Killed In Crash; Passenger Manifest Reveals Identities

Chatra: All seven people on board a medical evacuation flight were killed after an air ambulance crashed near Simaria in Jharkhand’s Chatra district on Monday evening, officials confirmed. The aircraft had taken off from Ranchi at 7:11 PM and was headed to Delhi when it went down roughly 20 minutes later.

Speaking to ANI, SP Sumit Kumar Agarwal confirmed the number of deaths. "We got information around 10 that an accident has happened... Getting here was difficult considering the terrain... The Delhi team will come here for investigation and try to recover the black box... Total number of deaths is seven," he said.

Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Keerthishree G said the crash was likely caused by a thunderstorm.
"It crashed due to a thunderstorm... Unfortunately, the team of doctors found them dead. The total number of people is seven. Two were crew members, and the remaining five were a patient and the patient's family members," she said.

Passenger and Crew Details

According to the official passenger manifest, those on board the aircraft were identified as pilots Capt Vivek Vikas Bhagat and Capt Savrajdeep Singh; the patient, Sanjay Kumar; attendents Archana Devi and Dhuru Kumar; a doctor, Dr Vikash Kumar Gupta; and paramedic Sachin Kumar Mishra.

The charter plane crashed in Kasariya Panchayat, Simariya block, around 7:30 PM.

Ramesh Kumar, Second-in-Command of the SSB, said rescue teams faced extreme difficulty reaching the crash site after receiving information about the downed aircraft. He explained that the location lay deep inside a forested area with no road access for nearly two kilometres, making night-time operations especially challenging. When teams arrived, they found no survivors and began the arduous task of retrieving the bodies. 

With only one stretcher brought by the SSB, personnel had to carry all seven bodies on foot for about two kilometres through dense bushes and rugged terrain to reach the main road. He added that the aircraft had crashed in the middle of the jungle, an area so remote that even walking alone is difficult, which made rescue and recovery efforts particularly demanding.

According to the DGCA, there were seven people on board, including two crew members.

The aircraft was airborne from Ranchi at 7:11 PM. After establishing contact with Kolkata aircraft requested deviation due to weather. At 7:34 PM aircraft lost communication and radar contact with Kolkata. The last known position of the aircraft was approximately 100 NM South-East of Varanasi.

In a press note, the DGCA said, "After establishing contact with Kolkata, the aircraft requested deviation due to weather. At 7:34 PM aircraft lost communication and RADAR contact with Kolkata at approximately 100 NM South-East of Varanasi. The District Administration search and rescue team is at the location, and the AAIB team is being dispatched for investigation. Further information will be shared".

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has initiated a probe, and a team from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is being dispatched to the site and will examine weather conditions, technical systems, and flight data to establish the sequence of events leading to the tragedy.

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