Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar died in a plane crash on Wednesday, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said.
Pawar was onboard an aircraft that was carrying him and five others, including the crew, which crashed in the Pune district on the day.
The incident occurred when the plane carrying NCP leader Ajit Pawar (66) and others was landing in Pune’s Baramati area, officials said.
The tragedy has sent shockwaves across the political landscape in India. Here is everything we know about the fatal plane crash that cost the lives of the six people on board.
Ajit Pawar death: What did the DGCA say?
According to initial information by the DGCA, all people on board the charter plane lost their lives in the plane crash, including Ajit Pawar. The aviation watchdog said that there were no survivors.
“Ajit Pawar, Deputy CM of Maharashtra, was onboard along with 2 more personnel (1 PSO and 1 attendant) and 2 crew (PIC+FO) members. As per initial information, no person on board has survived the crash,” the airline regulator said.
Ajit Pawar’s plane crash landed
The charter plane, in which Ajit Pawar was onboard, crash landed around 8:45 am in Maharashtra’s Baramati of the Pune district, according to ANI.
The plane was on its way from Mumbai to Baramati.
Who were the passengers on board?
The DGCA also shared a list of passengers who were on board the charter plane that crashed in Baramati, resulting in the death of Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajir Pawar.
- Ajit Pawar
- vidip jadhav
- Pinky Mali
- Sumit Kapoor
- Shambhavi Pathak
The pilot, Captain Sahil Madaan, also died in the Baramati plane crash.
How did Ajit Pawar’s plane crash?
According to the DGCA, the plane crash happened during an emergency landing attempt in Baramati. An eyewitness cited by news agency ANI described the exact moment when the plane crashed, resulting in Ajit Pawar’s death.
“I saw it with my eyes. This is really painful. When the aircraft descended, it seemed it would crash, and it did crash. It then exploded. There was a massive explosion. After that, we rushed here and saw that the aircraft was on fire. There were 4-5 explosions in the aircraft again. More people came here, and they tried to pull the people out (of the aircraft). But since this was a huge fire, people could not help. Ajit Pawar was onboard And this is really painful for us. I can’t describe it in words,” the eyewitness said.
A source told PTI that the aircraft pilot had mentioned about poor visibility near the runway, before the aircraft attempted the landing. The plane went off the runway while attempting to land at Baramati airport and burst into flames, according to the PTI report.
Investigations are on to identify the exact cause of the incident.
Why was Ajit Pawar traveling to Baramati?
Ajit Pawar was traveling to Baramati from Mumbai to address public meetings as part of the campaign for the February 5 zilla parishad elections in the state. There were five people on board when the aircraft crashed at 8.50 am, a police official was quoted as saying by PTI.
Details of the plane that crashed
The plane that crashed, causing Ajit Pawar’s death, is called Learjet 45.
The Learjet 45 (LJ45), a mid-size business jet aircraft produced by the Learjet Division of Bombardier Aerospace.
The aircraft in question was operated by VSR Ventures Pvt Ltd, a private charter plane company. It had last contacted the Pune ATC and thereafter the local ATC with local private arrangement.
