Ajit Pawar plane was cleared to land at 8.43 am, it crashed a minute later near Baramati

India’s Union government on Wednesday released a detailed report about the aircraft carrying Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar that crashed. The aircraft was cleared to land at 8.43 am, but crashed barely one minute later near Baramati Airport, killing all five people on board, the report mentions.

As per the Ministry of Civil Aviation report, the Learjet 45 aircraft (registration VT-SSK), operated by VSR Ventures, had made multiple attempts to land due to poor visibility before being granted final landing clearance on Runway 11.

The aircraft was carrying Pawar, a personal security officer, a flight attendant, and two crew members – a Pilot-in-Command (PIC) and a Second-in-Command (SIC).

The deceased have been identified as Vidip Jadhav, Pinky Mali, PIC Sumit Kapur, and SIC Shambhavi Pathak, according to the passenger manifest.

The official chronology states that the aircraft first established contact with Baramati Airport at 8.18 am. When the jet was about 30 nautical miles away, Pune approach control handed it over for local coordination, instructing the crew to descend under visual meteorological conditions.

During the approach, the pilots sought information on wind and visibility and were informed that winds were calm and visibility stood at around 3,000 metres.

The crew initially attempted to land on Runway 11 but aborted the landing after reporting that the runway was not visible, executing a go-around. During the second approach, Air Traffic Control again asked the crew to confirm runway visibility.

The pilots initially informed ATC that the runway was not in sight but would report once it became visible. Moments later, they confirmed visual contact with the runway.

“At 08.43 IST, the aircraft was cleared to land on Runway 11; however, no readback of the landing clearance was received from the cockpit,” the ministry said.

At 8.44 am, air traffic personnel observed flames erupting near the threshold of Runway 11. Emergency response teams were immediately deployed.

Investigators later found the wreckage of the Learjet scattered on the left side of the runway, directly above the runway threshold, indicating a high-impact crash moments after clearance was granted.

The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has taken over the investigation. The Director General of AAIB is travelling to the crash site to supervise evidence collection. Authorities said further details will be shared as the technical probe progresses.

The report also noted that VSR Ventures operates a fleet of 17 aircraft and flagged a previous incident involving another Learjet 45 owned by the operator, which met with an accident during a landing attempt at Mumbai airport in September 2023. That case remains under investigation.

(With inputs from syndicated feed)