Aurangabad (Bihar) [India], February 24 : Grief gripped families of the victims of the tragic air ambulance crash in Jharkhand's Chatra district, which occured on Monday evening, as the father of Doctor Vikash Kumar Gupta, one of the deceased in the crash, recalled his last conversation with his son hours before the fatal incident.
The Redbird Airways Pvt Ltd Beechcraft C90 aircraft, registered VT-AJV, was operating a medical evacuation flight from Ranchi to Delhi when it crashed in Kasariya Panchayat under Simaria block at around 7:30 pm on Monday, killing all seven people onboard, including two crew members.
Gupta's father said he learned of his son's death soon after the crash. Hailing from a poor family, he had sold his land to fund his son's education. When ministers offered assistance beyond the ex-gratia, he requested a job for his daughter-in-law.
"As soon as the plane crashed, the name of my son emerged. I hail from a poor family and sold my land so that my son could study. The ministers who came there asked if I needed any assistance apart from the ex-gratia. I asked for a job for my daughter-in-law. I had the last conversation at 4.30 PM yesterday," Gupta's father told ANI.
In Amritsar, Punjab, Lovepreet Singh, a friend of the deceased Captain Swaraj Singh, said they learned about the crash late at night.
"We came to know about the crash at 11 PM. He was amicable with everyone. He got married just two years ago and has a three-month-old kid," Singh told ANI.
Meanwhile, the investigation into the crash was underway. A team from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) reached the site on Tuesday to examine the wreckage. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) collected key documents and evidence and said it would continue the probe.
Sub-Divisional Police Officer Shubham Khandelwal said locals had reported seeing the aircraft lose balance moments before the crash. He said locals saw the aircraft losing balance and that it crashed 2-3 seconds later, adding that the bodies had been handed over and postmortems had been conducted.
Eyewitness Pawan Yadav told officials that the aircraft had appeared unstable before a loud explosion was heard amid light rain and poor weather conditions.
The aircraft had taken off from Ranchi at 19:11 IST and had lost radar and communication contact near 100 nautical miles south-east of Varanasi before crashing.
As authorities continued their investigation, families of the victims mourned the sudden loss of their loved ones.