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Takeoff at 7:11 pm, contact lost 23 minutes later: Jharkhand plane crash timeline and what we know
In the statement issued by the Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGCA), it was stated that the plane lost contact with Kolkata at 7:34pm.
Seven people were killed after an air ambulance transporting a patient from Ranchi to New Delhi, crashed in Jharkhand’s Chatra district on Monday night. The flight, which was expected to reach the national capital by 10pm, crashed before it could reach Delhi.
As reported by HT earlier, the chartered plane took off from Ranchi at 7:11pm from the Birsa Munda Airport.
In the statement issued by the Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGCA), it was stated that the plane lost contact with Kolkata at 7:34pm.
As per DGCA, Beechcraft C90 operated by Delhi-based Redbird Airways with the tail number VT-AJV, lost communication and radar contact with Kolkata at approximately 100 NM South-East of Varanasi, and shortly after that, crashed went down in the forest near Simaria in Jharkhand.
Citing Ranchi airport sources, PTI reported that the medical flight took off and established contact with the next station, following which control was handed over.
Also Read | Ranchi-Delhi air ambulance, which crashed in Jharkhand, had ‘requested deviation due to weather’
"After this contact was lost. The plane did not contact the Ranchi Airport,' the official told PTI.
All seven on board - including the pilot, co-pilot, patient and medical staff, were declared dead shortly after the crash was reported at 10:20 PM.
"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," SP Sumit Kumar told news agency ANI.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has initiated a probe, and a team from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has also been to the site of the accident.
Third aviation crash since Air India
Monday's plane crash is the latest safety crisis to hit India’s aviation sector. The previous one occurred last month when a Learjet 45 aircraft carrying Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and four others crashed in Pune's Baramati, killing all on board.
This is also the third fatal civilian aviation incident since June 2025, when an Air India Boeing Dreamliner crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad airport. Only one person - a 40-year-old British national survived the fatal crash.
The final report on the AI 171 crash, is yet to be released by authorities.
