The captain of the aircraft, carrying Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and four others, spoke to Air Traffic Control (ATC) about the visible runway before going down in flames at Baramati on Wednesday, people aware of the matter said, and added that there was no SOS, or distress signal.
No person on board survived. Videos from the crash site showed billows of smoke from the plane’s burning and scattered wreckage.
Pawar was scheduled to address a rural poll rally in his family stronghold of Baramati, 250 km from Mumbai.
Two flying schools, Redbird and Carver Aviation, operated the ATC at Baramati on alternate days. On Wednesday, Carver Aviation managed the ATC.
Pramesh Parikh, a Carver Aviation manager, said the aircraft was to land at 8.50am, and the captain said the runway was visible. “Baramati has a 1,770 metre runway. We could not see the aircraft landing. But we heard the crash. Maybe there was a visibility issue.’’
Eyewitnesses said that the pilot did a go-around, a normal procedure
Captain Sumit Kapoor and first officer Shambavi Pathak flew the Learjet 45, a mid-size business jet, that took off from Mumbai at 8:10am. Pinky Mali was the flight attendant. Pawar’s personal security officer, Vidhit Jadhav, was the fifth passenger on board.
Anil Ambani’s Reliance Airport Developers managed Baramati airport before handing it over to Maharashtra Airport Development Company. Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation constructed the airport in 1996. It was among five airports in the state given to Reliance Airport Developers for management.