Hours after a routine campaign trip turned fatal for Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar when the chartered plane he was traveling in crashed while landing at the Baramati airport, harrowing details of the last moments of the NCP chief and four others have emerged. In a press release, the Ministry of Civil Aviation detailed the sequence of events as the Learjet 45 approached the Baramati airport runway for landing.
According to the ministry, the pilot communicated with the air traffic controller (ATC) about poor visibility around the runway. ATC told investigators that after reporting “no runway visible,” it later informed an ATC operator that the runway was in sight.
The aircraft was cleared to land on runway 11, but the aircraft, Learway 45, “did not repeat clearance to land”. Also read | Caught on CCTV: The harrowing moments Ajit Pawar’s plane crashed and burst into flames
The ministry said: “The aircraft reported final approach to runway 11 and the runway was not in sight. They initiated a go-around on the first approach. After the go-around, the aircraft was asked for its position and the crew reported final approach to runway 11.”
“They were asked to report a runway in sight. They said the runway was not in sight at the moment, they would call when the runway was in sight.” After a few seconds they announced that the runway was in sight. The aircraft was cleared to land on runway 11 at 0843IST, however they did not return the clearance,” they said.
Moments later, ATC saw huge flames around Runway 11.
The ministry said in a statement that the flight was en route to Baramati from Mumbai. “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,” it said.
Among other passengers, Personal Security Officer (PSO) Ajit Pawar and an attendant along with two crew members (pilot-in-command and first officer) were on board when the aircraft crashed, a DGCA official said. Also read | The rebel ‘dada’ at the center of the recent political storms in Maharashtra is no more
According to an eyewitness, the ill-fated plane carrying Ajit Pawar appeared “a little unstable in the air” and exploded the moment it crashed to the ground.
Another person who witnessed the incident said that the plane burst into flames after the crash, followed by four to five consecutive explosions.
The Maharashtra state government has declared a three-day state mourning until January 30, during which the national flag will be flown at half-mast on all buildings. There will be no official entertainment during the time of mourning.
