Mumbai: The charter company VSR Ventures Pvt Ltd, whose Bombardier Learjet crashed at Baramati on Wednesday killing Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar (66) and four others, has a controversial past. In September 2023, another Bombardier Learjet of the Delhi-based company, crashed in Mumbai airport, but the probe report into that incident has mysteriously been not made public so far. The 14-year-old company is owned by Capt Vijay Singh and his son Capt Rohit Singh and has a fleet of 17 aircraft. W. Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has demanded a Supreme Court-monitored probe by an independent agency.
Crash at Baramati
According to reports from Baramati, suggested that Capt Sumit Kapur (61) could not land the 16-year-old Bombardier Learjet 45XR on Wednesday and he made a second attempt to land, but apparently because of poor visibility it landed on the threshold of the airstrip and burst into a huge ball of flames. Said an eyewitness said ``l live near the air strip. I saw the plane crash and catch fire. Myself and a few neighbours rushed to the spot and soon we were joined by the police and fire brigade. The fire was doused after some effort but its intensity was so high that all the five persons aboard were charred to death." Apparently, Ajit Pawar's body was identified by the watch on his wrist.
The private aircraft, registered as VT-SSK, was operated by Delhi-based VSR Ventures and was chartered by Ajit Pawar to travel from Mumbai to Baramati, the Pawar family’s political stronghold, for a slew of public meetings for the upcoming zilla parishad elections. According to the passenger manifest from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport’s general aviation terminal, the flight was scheduled to depart at 7am but actually took-off at 8.10am and crashed within less than 35 minutes.
ATC Communication
The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) stated that the ill-fated aircraft came in contact with Baramati air traffic control (ATC) at around 8.18 am. The ATC at Baramati is controlled by the pilots or instructors from the local flying training organisations as it is an uncontrolled airfield without the Airports Authority of India’s ATC tower. The airstrip is primarily used for pilot training and private aircraft operations. It does not offer any navigational aids to assist pilots for approach or landing during low visibility.
The communication between the crew and the ATC revealed that the visibility was poor during its approach to the runway. The crew was advised to land manually as Baramati airfield does not have an instrument landing system to guide an aircraft during approach and landing. Notably, the crew initiated a go-around as it failed to successfully land the aircraft and during the second attempt at 8.44 am, it crashed at the threshold of the runway. The jet burst into flames upon impact, leaving no survivors.
The tragic accident claimed the lives of four more people beyond the high-profile political loss. The flight was led by Capt. Sumit Kapur (61), a highly veteran pilot with over 15,000 flying hours at Sahara Air, Jet Airways and Jet Lite. He was assisted by first officer Sambhavi Pathak (25) , a young aviator with around 1,500 hours of flying experience. Also killed in the crash were the deputy CM’s personal security officer Vidip Jadhav (42) , who was a resident of Thane's Kalwa and flight attendant Pinky Mali (29) , who was also a resident of Thane.
Probe Initiated
The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) initiated a probe to ascertain the cause of the fatal crash. Officials from both the agencies reached the crash site to record the information of the aircraft’s final resting position and its flight data recorder.
Union civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu, Union civil aviation minister said that the preliminary investigation suggests that poor visibility could be the reason behind the crash. “Preliminary information says that the visibility was poor at the time of landing. The conversation between the ATC and the crew confirms that the runway was not visible. It is a very sad event and I assure a transparent and accountable investigation in this matter,” he said.
The emergency services rushed to the crash site to rescue the passengers but could not intervene immediately as huge flames erupted from the wreckage which laid on the left side of the runway 11’s threshold.
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