The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has officially confirmed that six people on board the aircraft, including Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, lost their lives when it crashed into a field and caught fire on Wednesday morning. Videos showed billows of smoke rising from some of the burning wreckage of the plane, scattered across an open field.
The ill-fated aircraft carrying Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar appeared "a bit unstable in the air" and exploded the moment it crashed on the ground near Baramati in Pune district on Wednesday morning, according to a woman eyewitness.
Another person who witnessed the incident said that after the crash, the aircraft burst into flames, followed by four to five consecutive blasts.
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The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief had taken off from Mumbai for Baramati on Wednesday morning in a private jet—reportedly a Bombardier Learjet 45. Between 9:00 and 9:15 am, the pilot lost control of the mid-sized jet while attempting to land at Baramati airport, TV9 Marathi said in a report. An alleged technical malfunction led to the plane crashing into a field instead of landing on the runway, causing the entire aircraft to go up in flames within seconds, the report added.
Local media reports claimed that a total of six people, including Ajit Pawar, were inside the ill-fated jet. Among the deceased were his security personnel, his personal assistant, and the pilot.
A source told PTI that the aircraft pilot had mentioned about poor visibility near the runway, before the aircraft attempted the landing.
Ajit Pawar passes away
Ajit Pawar, 66, was among five people killed as the plane attempted to make an emergency landing at Baramati Airfield in Pune district. Pawar was travelling to Baramati from Mumbai to address public meetings as part of the campaign for the February 5 zilla parishad elections in Maharashtra.
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).
