A tragic air ambulance crash in Jharkhand's Chatra district has claimed seven lives, including a critically burned patient and medical crew, spotlighting serious aviation safety gaps. The Beechcraft C90, idle for four years and missing a black box, vanished from radar en route from Ranchi to Delhi amid fierce thunderstorms that had already disrupted flights on the same path.

The Redbird Airways flight lifted off from Ranchi's Birsa Munda Airport at 7:11 PM on February 23, carrying pilots Captain Vivek Vikas Bhagat and Captain Savrajdeep Singh, doctor Vikas Kumar Gupta, staff Sachin Kumar Mishra, Archana Devi, patient Sanjay Kumar (65% burns), and attendant Dhuru Kumar. Contact was lost at 7:34 PM with Kolkata ATC, roughly 100 nautical miles southeast of Varanasi; wreckage was later found in Simaria's forested hills. Rescue operations battled rough terrain and rain, confirming all fatalities by dawn. Eyewitnesses reported a possible nose-dive or onboard fire before impact.

No flight data or cockpit voice recorder was aboard, as regulations skip this for aircraft under 5,700 kg—leaving investigators reliant on ATC transcripts, maintenance logs, and debris patterns. The plane's four-year grounding raises red flags on airworthiness, while its faulty weather radar prompted a deviation request right before the drop-off. DGCA and AAIB teams are now dissecting Redbird's records and probing operator compliance.

That night's thunderstorms forced Air India and IndiGo reroutes, mirroring risks for lighter planes vulnerable to turbulence. Chatra police eye weather as a key culprit, akin to the 2023 Nepal Beechcraft downing in similar conditions. Families seek swift compensation; authorities promise a thorough probe amid calls for mandatory recorders on air ambulances. Updates expected as black box alternatives like radar data are analyzed.