Pilot’s last flight: Young air ambulance captain from Latehar killed in Chatra crash; distraught father, villagers rush through forest night

Chatra: The air ambulance crash in the forests under Simaria police station limits of Chatra district on Monday night claimed the life of 28-year-old pilot Vivek Vikas Bhagat, who had logged over 1,700 flying hours.Vivek, a native of Luti village under Latehar sadar police station limits, was piloting the ill-fated aircraft when it went down in the dense forest. He was the only son of Dev Sahay Bhagat, an executive engineer in the rural works department posted in Chatra.At the time of the crash, his father was at his residence in Luti village. “It was a big shock for the officer when he heard the news,” a villager said. Dev Sahay Bhagat immediately rushed to the crash site along with other residents after receiving the information.Chatra MP Kalicharan Singh and MLA Janardan Paswan met the grieving father at Chatra Sadar Hospital on Tuesday morning and offered their condolences. The MP described the deaths of seven persons, including the son of a district officer, as “deeply tragic.”Villagers who accompanied the officer to the hospital told TOI that Vivek was scheduled to go on leave from Feb 27 to attend a close friend’s wedding in Ranchi. “He was excited about it.

Nobody imagined this would happen,” a family acquaintance said.Vivek underwent pilot training in Kanpur and later pursued an aviation-related course in South Africa. Described as bright and soft-spoken, he was regarded as a promising professional in the aviation sector.He is survived by his parents and younger sister, Anu Abhilasha Bhagat, who is studying at a medical college in Tripura.Officials in Chatra said the co-pilot of the aircraft, Savrajdeep Singh, a resident of Amritsar, also died in the crash. He had logged over 300 flying hours.