Amritsar pilot among 7 killed in air ambulance crash in Jharkhand

Chandigarh, Feb 24 (PTI) A pilot from Punjab's Amritsar, Swarajdeep Singh, was among the seven people killed in an air ambulance crash in Jharkhand, officials said.

Redbird Airways Pvt Ltd's Beechcraft C90 aircraft VT-AJV enroute from Ranchi to Delhi crashed soon after takeoff. There were five people and two crew members onboard.

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.

Swarajdeep (31), who had joined the company around seven months ago, was part of the crew of the air ambulance.

He hailed from the Gobind Nagar area in Amritsar.

Upon receiving the news of the death of Swarajdeep, relatives reached his residence in Amritsar to express grief with his family.

He is survived by his wife, four-month-old son and his parents. Swarajdeep got married one and a half years ago.

His family members were inconsolable and were struggling to come to terms with the loss.

Swarajdeep's friend Simardeep Singh said he had known him for 15 years. He said that before taking off on Monday, Swarajdeep had called his family, telling them that he would call after landing in Delhi.

But when the family tried to call him again after some time, they could not connect, said Singh while speaking to reporters in Amritsar.

Later, they saw the news on TV about the plane crash and found Captain Swarajdeep Singh's name among the dead, Singh said.

According to Singh, Swarajdeep met him last Saturday when he visited Amritsar. They had a plan to go out during his next visit, he said.

He always respected everyone, said Singh.

One of Swarajdeep's relatives said he always wanted to be a pilot. PTI CHS HIG HIG