Seven killed in Jharkhand air ambulance crash, including burn patient Sanjay Kumar; DGCA and AAIB probe ongoing into the medical flight tragedy.
Sanjay had suffered severe burn injuries covering 65% of his body in a separate accident on February 16, 2026.
Seven people, including a critically injured burn patient, lost their lives after an air ambulance traveling from Ranchi to New Delhi crashed in Jharkhand’s Chatra district on Monday night. The medical flight, operated by Redbird Airways, went down in a forest near Simaria before it could reach Delhi, raising fresh concerns about aviation safety in India.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) confirmed that the Beechcraft C90 aircraft, tail number VT-AJV, lost communication with Kolkata Air Traffic Control at 7:34 pm, roughly 100 nautical miles southeast of Varanasi, shortly before crashing.
Sanjay Kumar (41) was a resident of Chandwa in Latehar district, Jharkhand. He had suffered severe burn injuries covering 65% of his body in a separate accident on February 16, 2026. Following initial treatment at Devkamal Hospital and Research Centre in Ranchi, his condition was critical, and his family decided to transfer him to New Delhi for specialised medical care.
According to his relative of Sanjay Kumar, "He had a small hotel, and a gas cylinder there had exploded, which caused the fire. That was how he got badly burnt."
Anant Sinha, CEO of Devkamal Hospital in Ranchi, said, “The patient, Sanjay Kumar (41), a resident of Chandwa in Latehar district, was brought to the hospital with 65 per cent burn injuries on February 16. He was being treated in the hospital.”
Explaining the decision to shift him to Delhi for advanced care, he added, “They arranged an air ambulance on Monday. The patient left the hospital for Delhi around 4.30 pm.”
Sanjay Kumar’s family had opted for the air ambulance to give him access to specialised medical treatment in the national capital, but tragically, the flight never reached its destination.
VIDEO | Jharkhand air ambulance crash: A relative of one of the victims, says, "Sanjay Prasad had suffered severe burns. He was admitted to a hospital. There was no improvement in his condition during treatment, so we wanted to shift him to Delhi. In that process, we arranged a… pic.twitter.com/v22xhSR6KC
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) February 24, 2026
DGCA confirmed that all seven people on board were killed. The victims included:
The bodies were recovered from the crash site by local rescue teams. SP Sumit Kumar told ANI, “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.”
The DGCA has launched an investigation, with the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) team dispatched to the crash site. Officials are examining flight data, radar records, and weather conditions to determine the cause of the crash.
This incident marks the third fatal civilian aviation crash since June 2025, following the Air India Boeing Dreamliner crash near Ahmedabad and the Learjet 45 crash near Baramati, which killed Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four others.
The crash has once again raised alarms over the safety of chartered and non-scheduled flights in India. Experts stress the importance of strict regulations, thorough audits of operators like Redbird Airways, and adherence to weather and operational protocols to prevent future tragedies.
The investigation will also include a closer look at Redbird Airways’ operational practices, particularly after the plane’s sudden loss of communication and the challenging forest terrain where the crash occurred.
For now, authorities continue recovery and investigation efforts while families mourn the tragic loss of seven lives, including the critically injured patient, Sanjay Kumar, whose journey for medical treatment ended in disaster.
