Ajit Pawar Plane Crash: The fatal plane crash that claimed the lives of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four others has cast the spotlight on a troubling past accident involving the same charter operator. According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, another jet run by Delhi-based company VSR Aviation had crash-landed at Mumbai airport nearly 28 months earlier.
The ministry said a Learjet 45, registered as VT-DBL and operated by VSR Aviation, crash-landed at Mumbai airport on September 14, 2023, while attempting to land amid heavy rain and reduced visibility. The 14-year-old aircraft was flying from Visakhapatnam to Mumbai. There were six people on board, all of whom survived the crash.
What came out in the investigation of the previous crash?
In its preliminary investigation report, the AAIB said the aircraft took off normally from Visakhapatnam and the flight was uneventful until it established contact with Mumbai Air Traffic Control.
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The jet was instructed to prepare for landing and was cleared to land on Runway 27 at 17:01 IST. “At the time of landing, Mumbai Airport was experiencing heavy rains and reduced visibility,” the report said.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation has confirmed that the probe into that incident is still ongoing, more than two years after the crash-landing.
What led to Ajit Pawar’s plane crash?
VSR Aviation Learjet 45, registered as VT-SSK, went down on Wednesday while preparing to land at Baramati airport on January 28. Ajit Pawar and four others on board — his personal security officer, an attendant and two pilots — were killed in the accident.
Aviation expert Sanjay Lazar told news agency PTI that the Learjet 45 is considered a highly safe aircraft and noted that the weather was clear and the pilots were experienced. While no official word is out on the cause of the crash at the time of writing this report, Lazar added that the cause of the crash was likely a technical issue.
Sequence of event explained
Baramati is an uncontrolled airfield, where traffic information is provided by instructors or pilots from flying training organisations based at the airport. According to the statement of the person manning communications at the airfield, the aircraft first contacted Baramati at 08:18 IST. The next call was made when the jet was 30 nautical miles inbound after being released by Pune Approach.
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The crew was advised to descend under visual meteorological conditions at the pilot’s discretion. When the pilots asked about winds and visibility, they were told the winds were calm and visibility was around 3,000 metres.
The aircraft later reported being on final approach for Runway 11 but said the runway was not in sight, following which a go-around was initiated. After the go-around, the aircraft again reported being on final approach. Asked to report when the runway was in sight, the crew initially said it was not visible, before reporting a few seconds later that the runway was in sight.
The aircraft was cleared to land on Runway 11 at 08:43 IST, but no readback of the landing clearance was received. At 08:44 IST, flames were observed near the threshold of Runway 11. Emergency services were immediately rushed to the site. |
