As a civil aviation watchdog probe continues into Monday’s air ambulance crash in Jharkhand’s Chatra district, which killed seven people, including two crew members, it has emerged that the plane did not have a cockpit voice recorder (CVR) or a flight data recorder (FDR), commonly known as a black box.
Sources were reported as saying by news agency ANI that the Redbird Airways Pvt Ltd Beechcraft C90 aircraft VT-AJV, which was operating a medical evacuation (air ambulance) flight, did not have a black box as it was exempted under civil aviation rules.
The rules state that CVR or FDR are not mandated for aircraft with a maximum takeoff weight below 5,700 kg. The Beechcraft C90 aircraft VT-AJV’s weight was below 5,700 kg and that is why it did not have a black box, stated the sources.
Meanwhile, a team of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) yesterday reached the site of the tragic air ambulance crash in which all seven people onboard died.
‘Safety absolute priority’: Plane crashes force DGCA to announce stringent safety measures
The Redbird Airways Pvt Ltd Beechcraft C90 aircraft, registered VT-AJV, was operating a medical evacuation flight from Ranchi to Delhi. It crashed on Monday evening in Kasariya Panchayat, Simaria block.
DGCA officials, who are at the crash site, are collecting evidence as part of the investigation. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has already picked up key evidence from the wreckage.
Reports quoted the locals as saying that the aircraft lost its balance before it crashed.
An eyewitness, Pawan Yadav, was quoted as saying, “They (DGCA team) asked me what I saw and where I was. I told them that we were sitting outside our house in our village when we heard the sound and saw the aircraft. We felt it was losing balance when suddenly we heard a loud boom. The weather was bad, and there was light rain. I told them everything I saw.”
As per the details available, the aircraft took off from Ranchi at 7:11 pm and lost communication and radar contact with Kolkata at approximately 100 NM South-East of Varanasi.