NEW DELHI : Seven people, including two pilots and five passengers, were killed on Monday evening when a Redbird Airways air ambulance crashed near Simaria in Jharkhand’s Chatra district. The aircraft had taken off from Ranchi and was headed to Delhi on a medical evacuation mission.

Among the deceased was Dr. Vikash Kumar Gupta, whose father spoke of the immense sacrifices made to educate his son. Speaking to news agency ANI, he said his elder son was posted at Sadar Hospital in Ranchi and questioned why patients are forced to travel outside the state for advanced treatment.

“I had sold my farmland and other things for his education. If there had been proper health facilities here, why would they have gone to Delhi for treatment?” he said, voicing anguish and frustration.

The crash has also devastated the family of Sanjay Prasad, who was being transported to Delhi after suffering severe burn injuries in a gas cylinder explosion at his small hotel. Relatives said his condition had not improved despite treatment in Ranchi, prompting the decision to arrange for an air ambulance.

A family member told PTI that the private jet was arranged only after local treatment failed to show progress. “He had suffered severe burns after a gas cylinder explosion at his hotel. There was no improvement in his condition during treatment here, so we wanted to shift him to Delhi. In that process, we arranged a private jet, but it crashed,” the relative said.

Expressing anger over what they described as weak healthcare arrangements, the family alleged that inadequate facilities forced them into a risky transfer. “The system is extremely weak. Even when we go to private facilities, the arrangements turn into hardships, and today that hardship has turned into death,” the relative said.

The tragedy, they added, has destroyed multiple families. “Our home has been destroyed. Not just one home, many families have been ruined. If proper treatment had been available in Ranchi itself, we would not have had to take him to Delhi. And in the process, this tragedy happened. Our very existence has been shattered.”

Two children have now effectively been left without parental support. “There are two children who have now become like orphans. What will happen to them, I do not know,” the relative said.

Just over 12 hours after the Jharkhand crash, another aviation accident was reported on Tuesday in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. In a relief, all seven persons on board a Pawan Hans helicopter escaped without fatalities after the aircraft ditched in the sea near Mayabunder.

According to sources, the helicopter, a Eurocopter Dauphin (S365) bearing registration VT-PHY and call sign PH2, took off from Rangat at 9.11 am for Mayabunder, maintaining an altitude of 2,500 feet. It was carrying two pilots, Captain Anil Janu and Captain T P S Gulia, along with five passengers.

The aircraft reportedly ditched about 300 metres from the Mayabunder helipad near Dhobidera. All occupants were rescued safely. A statement from Pawan Hans is awaited.

The twin incidents come weeks after the January 28 crash of a VSR Ventures aircraft in Baramati that killed Maharashtra’s then deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and four others, raising fresh concerns about aviation safety standards.

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