Four-member DGCA team visits Ajit Pawar plane crash site in Baramati

A four-member team of senior DGCA officials has visited the site of the plane crash that killed Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar and four others last month near Baramati in Pune district.

During their visit on Wednesday (February 11), they reviewed the CCTV camera footage and videos linked to the January 28 incident, said local officials.

Ajit Pawar, Captain Sumit Kapoor, co-pilot Capt. Shambhavi Pathak, Personal Security Officer (PSO) Vidip Jadhav, and flight attendant Pinky Mali were killed when the Learjet aircraft they were on board crashed near the Baramati airport in Pune district.

According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation after the death of Pawar and four others after the plane crash, Baramati has an ‘uncontrolled airfield’ (one without a dedicated Air Traffic Control), and traffic information is provided by instructors/pilots from the local flying training organisations.

Union Civil Aviation Minister K. Ram Mohan Naidu had said the investigation into the plane crash would follow a time-bound approach.

The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) and the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had visited the site, and the Black Box of the ill-fated aircraft had been recovered.

An official on January 30 stated that the Maharashtra Crime Investigation Department (CID) had initiated its probe into the plane crash.

NCP (SP) MLA and late Ajit Pawar’s nephew, Rohit Pawar, had raised several questions regarding the sequence of events leading up to the plane crash.

He alleged that there was a reason to suspect sabotage in the tragic incident and demanded a comprehensive probe by multiple expert agencies.