The air ambulance that crashed in Jharkhand's Chatra on February 23 was extensively damaged with wreckage scattered over a wide area in the forest, and it was not equipped with a flight data recorder, said an Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau’s (AAIB) preliminary report.
The 1987-manufactured aircraft crashed near Simariya block, and seven persons on board, including two pilots, died in the accident.
The report hinted that the investigating team were struggling to determine what went wrong with the air ambulance due to the absence of a black box and the aircraft's extensive damage. However, the AAIB report said that the team is coordinating with all stakeholders on the next steps required to determine the root cause of Redbird Airways' Beechcraft King Air C90A accident.
Assistance has also been sought from the International Civil Aviation Organisation, US’s National Transportation Safety Board and Canada’s Transportation Safety Board.
While the report indicated that the weather was challenging due to reduced visibility, dangerous cumulonimbus cloud formations were observed over Ranchi airport since February 23 noon, with thunderstorm conditions intensifying towards the evening. However, no official severe warning was issued.
The report said the aircraft, operating a non-scheduled air ambulance flight from Ranchi to Delhi, was not equipped with a flight data recorder. The aircraft was exempt from installing a flight data recorder, as its maximum take-off weight was 4,581kg. Under civil aviation rules, aircraft weighing below 5,700kg are not required to be equipped with a black box.