Flights that never landed: From Sanjay Gandhi to Pawar, leaders killed in air crashes

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar joins a list of leaders who met an untimely death in plane crashes. Pawar was among five people who lost their lives in the plane crash in Baramati on Wednesday morning. Pawar was travelling to Baramati for election campaigning. The chartered plane caught fire following the crash.

Similar air tragedies have, over the years, claimed the lives of several senior political leaders in India, cutting short prominent public careers.

Former Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani

Ahmedabad witnessed a major plane crash last year. On June 12, an Air India aircraft crashed, killing former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani. There were 242 passengers on board, of whom only one survived. Rupani was travelling to London.

CDS General Bipin Rawat

India’s first Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat, also died in a helicopter crash. On December 8, 2021, the helicopter he was travelling in crashed near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu while en route from Sulur to Wellington.

Om Prakash Jindal and Surendra Singh

Industrialist and Haryana minister Om Prakash Jindal and Agriculture minister Surendra Singh died in a helicopter crash in 2005. The helicopter was flying from Delhi to Chandigarh when it crashed near Saharanpur.

Y S Rajasekhara Reddy

Former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy died in a helicopter crash on September 2, 2009.

TDP leader Balayogi

Former Lok Sabha Speaker and Telugu Desam Party leader G M C Balayogi died in a helicopter crash on March 3, 2002. He was travelling from Godavari to Bhimavaram in Andhra Pradesh when his helicopter crashed into a lake near Krishna district.

Madhavrao Scindia

Senior Congress leader Madhavrao Scindia died in a plane crash on September 30, 2001. He was travelling to Kanpur when his aircraft crashed near Mainpuri due to bad weather.

Sanjay Gandhi

Sanjay Gandhi, son of former prime minister Indira Gandhi, also lost his life in a plane crash. A trained pilot, he was flying a Delhi Flying Club aircraft near Safdarjung Airport when it suddenly lost control, leading to his death on June 23, 1980.