Jharkhand Air Ambulance Crash: Aircraft Had No Black Box, Weather Radar Now Under Investigation
The tragic Beechcraft C90 King Air air ambulance operated by Redbird Airways Pvt Ltd crashed on Monday night while flying from Ranchi to Delhi, killing all seven people onboard, including a patient, medical staff, and the flight crew. 
Officials conducting the probe have confirmed that the medical evacuation aircraft was not equipped with a cockpit voice recorder (CVR) or a flight data recorder (FDR), commonly known as black boxes. Under current civil aviation rules, these devices are not mandatory for aircraft with a maximum takeoff weight below 5,700 kg, which applies to this older Beechcraft model. This absence complicates efforts to establish a precise cause of the crash. 
Without black box data, investigators from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) are instead relying on air traffic control communications, radar data, wreckage examination, and eyewitness accounts to reconstruct the aircraft’s final moments. 
A central focus of the ongoing inquiry is the aircraft’s weather radar performance. Two commercial flights on the same route earlier reported adverse weather conditions and had sought deviations. While other flights requested left-turn deviations around storm activity, the ill-fated air ambulance made a right-side deviation request before losing radar contact, prompting questions about whether its radar was malfunctioning or if the crew may have misread the display. 
Search and rescue teams located the wreckage near Kasaria in Chatra’s Simaria area, deep in forest terrain. Weather at the time included thunderstorms and strong winds, raising concerns that the aircraft may have encountered severe atmospheric turbulence prior to the crash. 
The victims included the chartered air ambulance’s pilots and medical personnel, as well as a 41-year-old patient and attendants, all of whom were en route for advanced treatment in Delhi. 
Authorities have also noted that the aircraft was manufactured in 1987 and was reportedly unused for several years before being acquired by Redbird Airways in 2022, details that are now part of the broader safety and maintenance review. 
The probe continues, with official teams analysing all available evidence to determine both technical and operational factors that contributed to this tragic aviation accident. 
Officials conducting the probe have confirmed that the medical evacuation aircraft was not equipped with a cockpit voice recorder (CVR) or a flight data recorder (FDR), commonly known as black boxes. Under current civil aviation rules, these devices are not mandatory for aircraft with a maximum takeoff weight below 5,700 kg, which applies to this older Beechcraft model. This absence complicates efforts to establish a precise cause of the crash. 
Without black box data, investigators from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) are instead relying on air traffic control communications, radar data, wreckage examination, and eyewitness accounts to reconstruct the aircraft’s final moments. 
A central focus of the ongoing inquiry is the aircraft’s weather radar performance. Two commercial flights on the same route earlier reported adverse weather conditions and had sought deviations. While other flights requested left-turn deviations around storm activity, the ill-fated air ambulance made a right-side deviation request before losing radar contact, prompting questions about whether its radar was malfunctioning or if the crew may have misread the display. 
Search and rescue teams located the wreckage near Kasaria in Chatra’s Simaria area, deep in forest terrain. Weather at the time included thunderstorms and strong winds, raising concerns that the aircraft may have encountered severe atmospheric turbulence prior to the crash. 
The victims included the chartered air ambulance’s pilots and medical personnel, as well as a 41-year-old patient and attendants, all of whom were en route for advanced treatment in Delhi. 
Authorities have also noted that the aircraft was manufactured in 1987 and was reportedly unused for several years before being acquired by Redbird Airways in 2022, details that are now part of the broader safety and maintenance review. 
The probe continues, with official teams analysing all available evidence to determine both technical and operational factors that contributed to this tragic aviation accident. 
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