Home / Disasters and Accidents / Air Ambulance Lost: No Distress Call Before Crash
Air Ambulance Lost: No Distress Call Before Crash
24 Feb
Summary
- Air ambulance did not issue distress call before vanishing from radar.
- Pilot requested weather deviation due to inclement conditions.
- Weather warnings were issued, but not contacted by the aircraft crew.
An air ambulance en route to Delhi from Ranchi vanished from radar without issuing a distress call. The Beechcraft aircraft disappeared approximately half an hour after takeoff. Officials confirmed the pilot had requested a deviation from the planned flight path due to inclement weather.
Before its disappearance, the aircraft sought permission to change altitude, with the last radio contact occurring minutes before it went off radar. The flight was last tracked near Atali point, where air traffic control in Kolkata was to hand over control to Varanasi.
Meteorological officials in Ranchi had issued thunderstorm and rainfall warnings for the day. Despite these warnings, the crew of the Beechcraft King Air C90A did not contact the weather office before their flight. Aviation experts suggest lightning could have affected the aircraft's systems, or that low flight levels may have interfered with its communication systems.
