A family borrowed Rs 8 lakh — every rupee scraped from loans and friends and well-wishers — to put Sanjay Kumar on an air ambulance to Delhi. He was 41. He was a burn victim. He was the only one earning in the family. He never landed.
Sanjay was being taken to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in New Delhi for advanced care.
The Beechcraft C90, reportedly operated by Delhi-based Redbird Airways, crashed in Jharkhand’s Chatra district shortly after taking off from Ranchi on Monday.
The family reportedly weighed selling their land, their property and whatever they had. In the end, they borrowed from banks, friends, and anyone who would lend to cover the private hospital bills in Delhi and the cost of the air ambulance.
Tragically, all seven people on board were killed. Sanjay’s wife Archana and relative Dhruv had boarded with him. They didn’t survive the crash.
Ranchi MP and Minister of State (MoS) Defence Sanjay Seth told a section of the media that the weather changed rather abruptly. He added that an investigation would determine whether the cause was bad weather, human misjudgment or a technical snag.
He was quoted as saying, “Last night’s plane crash was extremely tragic. We were busy with election work, and after it ended we learned about the incident. The weather had been clear during the day, but suddenly it changed. A yellow alert had been issued, followed by lightning, thunder, strong winds and heavy rain. It will be known only after the investigation whether bad weather, human error or a technical problem caused the crash.”
“One patient from Latehar with 60-65% burn injuries was being taken from Ranchi to Delhi for treatment along with his wife and nephew. A doctor, paramedical staff and two pilots were also on board. It is very unfortunate that a patient being taken for treatment lost his life in this tragic crash.”
The fire that started it all broke out last Monday at Sanjay’s modest hotel in Chandwa, an electric short circuit, the kind of ordinary disaster that changes everything in seconds. He was at work when it caught him. The burns were serious. Local treatment failed to have the desired effect.
The aircraft was carrying two pilots, captain Vivek Vikas Bhagat, pilot-in-command, and captain Savrajdeep Singh, co-pilot, along with Dr Vikas Kumar Gupta and paramedic Sachin Kumar Mishra.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) team will arrive in Chatra at 1:00 pm to investigate the plane crash. The black box is expected to reveal the cause of the incident. All the bodies of the victims have been recovered and sent to hospital for post-mortem.
According to reports, Redbird Airways, owned by Akshay Yadav, was established in 2018. It has six planes in the fleet, including the one which crashed on that ill-fated Monday evening.
Also Read: Baramati Plane Crash Kills Ajit Pawar, Maharashtra Reels In Shock https://www.vibesofindia.com/baramati-plane-crash-kills-ajit-pawar-maharashtra-reels-in-shock/
