Overview
- The Redbird Airways medical flight bound for Delhi went down near Simaria in Jharkhand’s Chhatra district, with all seven aboard confirmed dead.
- The aircraft departed Ranchi at 19:11 and lost contact with air traffic control about 20–23 minutes later before crashing in dense forest roughly four kilometres from the nearest road.
- Police recovered and identified the victims, including pilots Vivek Vikas Bhagat and Savarajdeep Singh, patient Sanjay Kumar, Dr Vikas Kumar Gupta, Sachin Kumar Mishra, Archana Devi and Dhuru Kumar.
- DGCA and local authorities have opened investigations, with officials noting adverse weather as a possible factor pending formal findings.
- Relatives said they borrowed about INR 7.5–8 lakh to fund the air transfer, underscoring the heavy financial strain of emergency medical flights.