Air ambulance crash lands in Najafgarh

The aircraft was forced to land after losing both its engines. Seven people were on board and all of them, including the pilot, are safe, said the police.

The aircraft, coming from Patna, is 27 years old and can seat seven people, including crew members. One of the seven occupants, identified as Bhagwan Rai, 60, received some minor injuries and was rushed to Rao Tula Ram Memorial hospital where his condition is stated to be stable. Apart from Bhagwan, Virender Rai (patient), pilot Amit, co-pilot Rohit, Rupesh (doctor), woman attendant Juhi and Jain Bahadur (technician) were travelling in the aircraft.

An airport official said on condition of anonymity: “The aircraft was on its way to Delhi from Patna, and while approaching the IGI Airport, it developed a technical snag and the pilot requested the Delhi Air Traffic Control (ATC) for an emergency landing at around 2.29 pm. However, 10 minutes later it lost contact with the ATC. It was supposed to land at runway 10/28 of the Delhi airport.”

Meanwhile, the pilot of the aircraft averted a major disaster after the engines shut down while the aircraft approached the runway.

“Soon after the police got information about the incident, a PCR van reached the spot and without waiting for the local police, they rushed the patient to Medanta hospital, which had requisitioned the air ambulance. None was injured in the incident except the brother of the patient who received minor bruises on his head,” said Surender Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South-West).

“The patient was accompanied by family members and a doctor from the private air ambulance service. After the crash, the patient had a brain stroke, after which he was immediately taken to Medanta hospital in Gurgaon and is right now in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU),” said A K Dubey, spokesperson from Medanta.