Baramati plane crash Ajit Pawar death: Specialised support sought to retrieve data from cockpit voice recorder

Aircraft accidents probe agency AAIB on Tuesday (February 17, 2026) said special support has been sought for retrieval of data from the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) of the Learjet 45 plane that crashed near Baramati last month.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four others were killed in the fatal crash of the VSR Ventures-owned plane on January 28.

In a statement, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) said the aircraft was equipped with two independent flight recorders.

Both recorders were exposed to intense heat for a prolonged period during the accident and sustained fire damage, it said.

According to AAIB, the Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR), manufactured by L3-Communications, has been successfully downloaded at its Flight Recorder Laboratory.

“The Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR), manufactured by Honeywell, is undergoing detailed technical examination. Assistance has been sought from the Accredited Representative of the State of Manufacture for specialised support in data retrieval,” the probe agency said.

In this case, the state of manufacture is the U.S..

Requesting all stakeholders to avoid speculation, AAIB said it was diligently following all prescribed technical and procedural protocols to ensure a comprehensive, objective and evidence-based investigation.

It also said the investigation was being done strictly in accordance with the Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules, 2017 and the international standards and recommended practices of ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) Annex 13.

Last week, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said the preliminary report on the crash of the Learjet 45 aircraft VT-SSK would be released soon.