Ranchi (Jharkhand) [India], February 24 (ANI): Government leaders, hospital officials and family members of the deceased have reacted with shock and expressed deep grief over the air ambulance crash in Chatra that claimed seven lives, attributing the tragedy to a sudden and severe deterioration in weather conditions.

Heart-wrenching scenes were witnessed at Sadar Hospital on Tuesday morning as family members gathered to mourn the loss of their loved ones killed in a late-night air ambulance crash. Visuals from the hospital showed grieving relatives identifying the seven deceased, which include the flight crew, medical staff, a burn patient, and his attendants.

The father of attendant Dhuru Kumar recounted the timeline of his son's final day, and while speaking to ANI, he said, 'He went from Simdega at around 7 am. My son had a flight from Ranchi in the evening.'

Father of the deceased Dr Vikash Kumar Gupta, said, '...My elder son was posted in the Sadar Hospital, Ranchi...If there had been proper health facilities here, why would they have gone to Delhi for treatment?...

Reflecting on the unexpected nature of the disaster, Union Minister Sanjay Seth, while speaking to ANI, said, 'This is a very sad incident. The crash will be investigated, but yesterday the weather suddenly changed and turned very bad. It is a very unfortunate incident.'

Providing details on the patient and the medical team involvedthe founder and CEO of Devkamal Hospital & Research Centre, Anant Sinha, while speaking to ANI, said, 'The patient's name was Sanjay Kumar. He was forty-one years old. He was admitted to our hospital on the 16th. He had suffered around sixty per cent burns. We kept him in the ICU. Some relatives suggested they might want him to be taken abroad for better treatment. They negotiated and arranged for an air ambulance. Unfortunately, we got the news that a plane had crashed. Dr Vikas Gupta was close to us, unfortuntely he also died.'

Meanwhile, on Monday, a medical chartered plane with seven people on board, including two crew members, crashed at Kasariya Panchayat, Simariya block of Chatra district in Jharkhand on Monday, DGCA sources stated. According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the Redbird Airways Pvt Ltd Beechcraft C90 aircraft VT-AJV departed from Ranchi at 7:11 PM. Shortly after, the air ambulance lost communication and RADAR contact with Kolkata at 7: 34 PM.

'On 23.02.2026, Redbird Airways Pvt Ltd Beechcraft C90 aircraft VT-AJV, operating a medical evacuation (Air Ambulance) flight on sector 'Ranchi-Delhi' crashed in Kasariya Panchayat, Simariya block of Chatra district, in Jharkhand. There were seven persons on board including two crew members. The aircraft was airborne from Ranchi at 19:11 IST. After establishing contact with Kolkata aircraft requested deviation due to weather. At 19:34 IST aircraft lost communication and RADAR contact with Kolkata. The last known position of aircraft was approximately 100 NM South-East of Varanasi,' DGCA reported.

Earlier, the Ranchi Airport reported that after being transferred to the next station, the plane did not contact Ranchi and that the state government has been informed of the same. (ANI)