Jharkhand air ambulance crash: No black box, investigators examine the site

The Redbird Airways Pvt. Ltd. Beechcraft C90 (VT-AJV) that crashed in Jharkhand on Tuesday (February 24, 2026), claiming 7 lives, had no black boxes as the aircraft’s maximum take-off weight is below 5,700 kg, sources said.

According to civil aviation rules, cockpit voice recorders (CVR) or flight data recorders (FDR) are not mandated for aircraft with a maximum take-off weight below 5,700 kg.

A team from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) investigated the crash site on Wednesday (February 25) and collected evidence from the wreckage to carry out further investigation.

The Redbird Airways Pvt. Ltd. Beechcraft C90 aircraft, registered VT-AJV, was operating a medical evacuation flight from Ranchi to Delhi when it crashed on Monday evening (February 23) in Kasariya Panchayat, Simaria block. Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) officials are collecting evidence from the wreckage to carry out further investigation.

A DGCA team on Tuesday (February 24) reached the location of the tragic air ambulance crash in Jharkhand’s Chatra district.

Speaking to ANI, Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Shubham Khandelwal said that the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has collected key evidence and will continue investigations tomorrow. He further said that locals reported the aircraft losing balance before it crashed, and recovery and postmortems of all bodies have been completed.

“AAIB (Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau)’s team had come here. They collected all the documents and evidence they deemed important. They will collect evidence tomorrow as well. They will then inform us of their investigation. The local villagers have also given their statements regarding the manner in which the crash occurred. Locals say that they saw the aircraft losing balance. It crashed 2-3 seconds later. Deployment will continue here. Yes, bodies have handed over, and a postmortem has been done,” Mr. Khandelwal said to the reporters.

The aircraft had taken off from Ranchi at 19:11 IST and lost communication and radar contact with Kolkata at approximately 100 NM South-East of Varanasi.

As per an official statement from the Council of Indian Aviation, the aircraft had taken off from Ranchi at 19:11 IST and lost radar and communication contact near 100 NM south-east of Varanasi.