Investigation revealed that the aircraft that crashed in Chatra, Jharkhand, on Monday night, killing all seven people on board, had not been unused between once between 2018 and 2022.

It had no black box, officials familiar with the matter reportedly told Hindustan Times, “in what would likely pose a significant challenge in piecing together the cause of the incident.”

As per the Civil Aviation Rules, it is not mandatory to have cockpit voice recorders (CVR) or flight data recorders (FDR) for aircraft weighing below 5,700kg. This aircraft falls within this weight range.

As a result, the accident is being investigated through “communication with air traffic control, analysis of the wreckage, and eyewitness accounts,” it is learnt.

Investigators are probing, according to HT report quoting ‘one of the officials’, is whether a faulty onboard weather radar caused the Beechcraft C90 King Air to take a fatal deviation from its planned route.

The aircraft, operated by Delhi-based Redbird Airways Pvt Ltd, was on a medical evacuation flight from Ranchi to Delhi when it crashed in the Kasaria area of Chatra district. Those on board were the patient, Sanjay Kumar, 41, a doctor, a paramedic, two attendants, and two pilots — pilot in command Vivek Vikash Bhagat, who had around 1,400 hours of flying experience, and first officer Savrajdeep Singh, who had around 450 hours. The aircraft, manufactured in 1987, was acquired by Redbird Airways in 2022 from Orient Flying School, which had purchased it in 2001.

One indisputable fact brought into light by investigators is that the plane had been unused between 2018 and 2022, though the exact reason for the same could not be independently verified. The flying school had regarded the aircraft as a non-revenue-generating asset.

An Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) team is investigating the cause of the Air Ambulance crash at the site.