Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar died on Wednesday after the plane he was traveling in crashed while attempting to land in Baramati. The Nationalist Congress Party leader was scheduled to address four political rallies ahead of the upcoming Zilla Parishad elections.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation confirmed the fatality and said in an official statement: “There were a total of 5 persons on board including 2 crew members. The Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra Shri Ajit Pawar was among the passengers. All the passengers of the aircraft sustained fatal injuries.”
Baramati Airport Details Explained
The ministry noted that Baramati is classified as a non-controlled airport where air traffic information is shared by instructors or pilots from flight training organizations operating on site, rather than a full-fledged air traffic control unit.
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Based on the testimony of the air traffic control official at the time, the ministry outlined the sequence of events that led to the fatal crash.
How the collision developed
On January 28, VI-SSK first established contact with Baramati at 08.18 IST. Shortly afterwards, the crew made another call while 30 nautical miles inbound and was released on approach at Pune. They were advised to descend under visual meteorological conditions at the discretion of the pilot.
The crew then sought information regarding wind conditions and visibility. They were informed that the wind was calm and the visibility was approximately 3000 meters.
During the first attempt to land on runway 11, the crew reported that the runway was not visible and initiated a go-around. They then reported again that they were on final approach to Runway 11.
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When asked to confirm whether the runway was in sight, the crew replied: “runway not in sight at the moment, will call when runway is in sight”. Moments later they announced that the runway was visible.
The aircraft was cleared to land on Runway 11 at 08.43 IST, although no return confirmation was received. At 08:44 IST, flames were seen near the runway threshold, prompting emergency services to rush to the scene.
Debris was later found on the left side of the runway, above the runway 11 threshold.
Aircraft details
The aircraft involved was registered as VT-SSK and was manufactured in 2010. Its Certificate of Registration (CoR) was issued on 27 December 2022, while its Certificate of Airworthiness (CoA) was issued on 16 December 2021. The Airworthiness Review Certificate (ARC) was issued on 10 September 2025 and is valid until 20 September 2026.
The aircraft recorded a total time since new (TSN) of 4,915 hours and 48 minutes with 5,867 cycles. It has flown for 85 hours and 49 minutes since the last airworthiness review, according to the official report.
Engine details:
The aircraft was powered by TFE731-20BR engines. The left engine completed 4,915 hours and 48 minutes with 5,965 cycles, while the right side engine completed 4,526 hours and 44 minutes with 5,426 cycles.
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Investigation handed over to AAIB
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) took over the investigation. According to the report, the Director General of the AAIB is traveling to the crash site and more details will be shared as they become available.
