New Delhi, February 24 Authorities are investigating the main factors, including weather conditions, that could have led to the fatal crash of an air ambulance that killed seven people in Jharkhand on Monday evening, according to officials.
The Beechcraft C90 aircraft, VT-AJV, belonging to Redbird Airways Pvt Ltd, crashed shortly after takeoff from Ranchi while en route to Delhi. There were five passengers and two crew members on board.
One of the officials said that a conclusion on what could have caused the crash is yet to be reached, and that the weather conditions at the time of the crash will also be investigated.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) team is already at the crash site.
RedBird Airways, based in Delhi, has a fleet of six planes, according to information available with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). This includes the aircraft that crashed on Monday.
It is not known whether the aircraft's black box has been recovered.
The DGCA said on Monday that the aircraft crashed in the Kasaria Panchayat of the Chatra district, in Jharkhand.
"There were seven persons on board, including two crew members. The aircraft took off from Ranchi at 19:11 IST.
"After establishing contact with Kolkata, at 19:34 IST, the aircraft lost communication and radar contact with Kolkata approximately 100 NM south-east of Varanasi," the DGCA had said in a statement.
The crash was the second in less than a month involving a plane operated by a non-scheduled operator. On January 28, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four others died in a plane crash near Baramati.
