As investigations continue into Wednesday’s tragic Baramati plane crash that killed Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four others, new details have begun to emerge regarding the sequence of events that led to the crash.
Investigators continue to look into what led to the crash of a Learjet 45 operated by VSR Aviation, the latest communication from the crew of the ill-fated flight has emerged.
“The last words she heard from the crew were ‘oh s**t’,” a senior official from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said, according to the Hindustan Times.
Events leading up to the crash
The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) said in a statement on Wednesday that the pilots were initially unable to locate the runway at the Baramati airport and made a second landing attempt.
During the second attempt, the crew confirmed to ground control that the runway was in sight and were cleared to land, but the aircraft burst into flames seconds later, killing all on board.
The ministry said the two pilots, Captain Sumit Kapoor and Captain Shambhavi Pathak, failed to respond to air traffic control’s clearance to land and crashed soon after.
The ministry’s release also raised questions about conditions at Baramati Airport, which is categorized as “uncontrolled”, meaning it has only a basic runway and no ATC tower or ATC frequency.
HT reported that ground control at Baramati is handled by pilot cadets from two private aviation academies in the city, namely Redbird Aviation and Carver Aviation.
