Kolkata/ Chatra: A plane, which took off from Ranchi for New Delhi on Monday around 7.11 pm, lost contact with air traffic control (ATC) around 7.34 pm and crashed in a forested stretch near Karmatand village in Kesoria panchayat under Simaria block of Chatra district, sources at the Kolkata ATC said.Preliminary reports suggest that all seven persons, who were on board the plane, at the time of the incident are dead, Simaria SDPO Subham Khandelwal, who was at the spot, said.Chatra deputy commissioner (DC) Kirtishiree G said, “The plane, operated by Redbird Aviation, took off from Ranchi and was headed to Delhi when communication with the ATC snapped around 7.34 pm on Monday. Rescue teams have been sent to the location.”The Kolkata ATC sounded a high alert and initiated the search and rescue protocol. It alerted the district magistrate of Chatra district shortly after the plane disappeared from the radar at 7.34 pm. The crash was confirmed around 10 pm, sources at the Kolkata ATC said.Villagers said they had heard a loud sound like that in cases of an explosion and saw an object falling from the sky. They located the debris in the area, which is located around 107 km north-west or Ranchi and alerted authorities.Teams from the district administration, local police and disaster response units have been mobilised to comb the forest zone, sources said.Sources said that the crew comprised Capt Vivek Vikas Bhagat and Capt Savrajdeep Singh.The list of passengers on board the plane are identified as Dr Vikash Kumar Gupta, paramedic Sachin Kumar Mishra, Sanjay Kumar (41), a patient suffering from burn injuries and referred to Delhi from Devkamal hospital of Ranchi; Archana Devi, who was accompanying him; and Dhuru Kumar, another attendant.
