Ajit Pawar, Nationalist Congress Party chief and Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister, died on Tuesday morning after a small aircraft carrying him crash-landed near Baramati airport. Four others on board, including pilots and Pawar’s security personnel, were also killed in the accident.
The aircraft, which departed Mumbai at around 8 am, went down while attempting to land at Baramati approximately 45 minutes later. Pawar was travelling to attend four public meetings ahead of the upcoming zila parishad elections when the crash occurred.
According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the aircraft was carrying five people in total, Pawar, one personal security officer, one attendant, and two crew members, including the pilot-in-command and the first officer. The aviation watchdog confirmed that there were no survivors.
Visuals from the crash site showed thick smoke, fire, and the mangled remains of the aircraft, as ambulances rushed to the area. Emergency services were deployed immediately, though officials later confirmed that all those on board had died.
The DGCA said the aircraft was a Learjet 45 operated by VSR, bearing registration number VT-SSK. The jet crash-landed at its destination at around 8.45 am.
“The aircraft VT-SSK was attempting a landing, and the aircraft went off the side of the runway and crashed,” Baramati airport manager Shivaji Taware was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.
The cause of the emergency landing attempt and the subsequent crash has not yet been established. Authorities said a detailed investigation would be conducted to determine the circumstances leading to the accident.
Ajit Pawar, 66, was the nephew of politician Sharad Pawar and the cousin of Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule. Sharad Pawar and Sule, who were in Delhi for the ongoing Budget Session of Parliament, are expected to travel to Pune shortly.
The crash has sent shockwaves through Maharashtra’s political landscape, with leaders across party lines expressing grief over the sudden death of one of the state’s most prominent political figures.
