Mumbai: Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar left for Baramati from Mumbai on Wednesday morning. He had to address a public meeting related to the Zilla Parishad elections there. When the plane reached Baramati airport between 8:45 and 9:15 in the morning, visibility was very low due to heavy fog. While landing, the pilot lost control and this Learjet 45 aircraft of VSR Ventures fell into a nearby field instead of the runway. The collision was so strong that the plane’s wings were blown apart and a massive fire broke out. DGCA has confirmed the death of all five people on board the plane including Ajit Pawar in this accident.
First Officer Shambhavi Pathak
This aircraft was being flown by experienced Captain Sumit and First Officer Shambhavi Pathak. Shambhavi was a very talented and hardworking pilot, whose early education was in Mumbai. He obtained B.Sc. degree in Aeronautics and Aviation Science from Mumbai University. To fulfill her dream of becoming a pilot, she went to New Zealand, where she learned professional flying from the International Commercial Pilot Academy. After completing his training during the year 2018-19, he got a commercial pilot license from the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority. Since 2022, she was working as a pilot with VSR Ventures Company.
VSR Ventures plane and crew members fell victim to the accident
The crew of this aircraft (registration number VT-SSK), weighing approximately 9,752 kg, included Captain Sumit and Shambhavi along with flight attendant Pinky Mali. Along with these three, Ajit Pawar and Videep Jadhav also died on the spot in the accident. VSR Ventures, the company that owns the aircraft, is a Delhi-based private firm, which was started in 2011 by Captain Vijay Singh and Captain Rohit Singh. The surprising thing is that in September 2023 also, an aircraft of the same company crashed at Mumbai Airport. Now once again the company’s aircraft has become the victim of a major accident, due to which questions are being raised on its safety standards.
DGCA started high level investigation
According to initial information, the main reason for the accident is said to be dense fog and bad weather, due to which the pilot could not get a correct idea of the runway. It has also come to light that in the last moments of landing, there was some technical fault in the plane, due to which it fell directly into the field. After the accident, there was chaos all around and the wreckage of the plane burnt to ashes. Considering the seriousness of this entire matter, DGCA has constituted a high level investigation committee. This committee will find out whether it was just an accident or there was some major negligence in the maintenance of the aircraft behind it.