Jharkhand crash: RedBird Airways says there were no defects with aircraft

New Delhi, Feb 24 (PTI) RedBird Airways on Tuesday said there were no defects with the aircraft that crashed in Jharkhand, and the pilots who operated the flight were experienced.

A day after the crash of the Beechcraft C90 aircraft VT-AJV, operating as an air ambulance, which killed seven people, the probe agency AAIB visited RedBird Airways' registered office in the national capital and took cartons of documents with them.

The aircraft, enroute from Ranchi to Delhi, crashed soon after take off. There were five people and two crew members onboard.

"We are also deeply saddened. The families are in shock, and we ourselves are still in shock as to what has happened, because we had gone to save someone's life," RedBird Airways Chief of Flight Safety Capt Mohindar Kaur told media, including PTI Videos, on Tuesday.

While mentioning that it was an air ambulance flight, she said that one segment of the flight went absolutely fine.

"... even on the return, there were no defects in the aircraft. Both the pilots were capable and experienced pilots," she added.

Kaur spoke to media persons after officials from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) seized various documents from the company's office.

She said investigating authorities have seized various documents.

The website of RedBird Airways was not accessible on Tuesday.

According to various websites, the aircraft that crashed was around 40 years old.

The company has six aircraft in its fleet, including three King Air C90A, C90B and C90. The others are SKA B200, Cessna Citation 560XL and Cessna Citation III (650), as per information available on the DGCA website.

One of them, a King Air C90 with registration VT-AJV, crashed on Monday.

The Air Operator Permit of the company is valid till August 12, 2030.

On Monday, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said the aircraft crashed in Kasaria Panchayat of Chatra district in Jharkhand.

"There were seven persons on board, including two crew members. The aircraft was airborne from Ranchi at 19:11 IST.

"After establishing contact with Kolkata, at 19:34 IST, the aircraft lost communication and RADAR contact with Kolkata approximately 100 NM South-East of Varanasi," the DGCA had said in a statement.

The crash on Monday was the second in less than a month, involving a plane operated by a non-scheduled operator. On January 28, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four others died in a plane crash near Baramati. PTI RAM IAS BAL BAL