Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar dies in plane crash at Baramati

Pune: NCP chief and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar (66) and four others were killed in a plane crash during an emergency landing at Baramati airport on Wednesday. The incident occurred as the aircraft was attempting to land in the Baramati area of Pune district. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation confirmed that there were no survivors. According to Flight Radar, the flight took off from Mumbai at 8.10 am and it disappeared from radar around 8.45 am.

Pawar was traveling to Baramati from Mumbai to address public meetings as part of the campaign for the February 5 zilla parishad elections in the state. There were five people on board when the aircraft crashed at 8.50 am, a police official said.

Superintendent of Police, Sandip Singh Gill, said that after the crash, there was a fire. "People onboard were immediately taken to the hospital," he said. 

The Learjet 45 (LJ45), a mid-size business jet aircraft produced by the Learjet Division of Bombardier Aerospace, went off the runway while attempting to land at Baramati airport and burst into flames. The aircraft pilot had mentioned about poor visibility near the runway, before the aircraft attempted the landing, a source told PTI.

Pawar is survived by wife Sunetra, a member of Rajya Sabha and two sons, Parth and Jay. Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) had contested the recent municipal corporation elections in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad in alliance with his uncle Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP).