- Ajit Pawar praised women pilots in a 2024 social media post on X
- Pawar and four others died in a Baramati plane crash during landing
- The crash occurred amid poor visibility and a second landing attempt
A day after Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar died in a plane crash in Baramati, social media users highlighted his old post paying tribute to the women in aviation.
Ajit Pawar, in a post on X on January 18, 2024, had said that if a flight lands smoothly, it is always a woman at the pilot's seat.
"When we travel by helicopter or plane, if our plane or helicopter lands smoothly, we understand that the pilot is a woman. #NCPWomenPower," it said.
The post was appreciated online at the time.
Ajit Pawar and four others died when their aircraft crashed nearly 100 metres from the edge of a tabletop runway at Baramati airport in Pune district. The aircraft burst into flames during what officials say was a second landing attempt amid poor visibility. Pawar was going to Baramati to attend four key meetings ahead of the local body polls next month.
Apart from Pawar, those onboard plane who died included two pilots - Sumit Kapur and Sambhavi Pathak, Pawar's personal security officer Vidip Jadhav, and a flight attendant, Pinky Mali.
Captain Shambhavi Pathak was serving as the First Officer at VSR Ventures, a Delhi-based non-scheduled air transport operator of the Learjet 45, a small aircraft involved in the accident. Pathak, who had taken a flight crew training at the New Zealand International Commercial Pilot Academy, had received the Frozen Airline Transport Pilot License (ATPL) from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
Sumit Kapur was the pilot-in-command with Pathak.
Ajit Pawar's funeral is being held at his political stronghold, Baramati, with full state honours today.
What led to the crash
According to the Civil Aviation Ministry, the aircraft first established contact with Baramati air traffic control at 8:18 am after being released by Pune approach, about 30 nautical miles inbound. At this time, Kapur, who had a flying experience of over 15,000 hours, and co-pilot Pathak, who had flown for about 1,500 hours, were advised of weather conditions and advised to land at their discretion.
The aircraft then reported its final approach to Runway 11.
Immediately afterwards, the pilots reported that the runway was not in sight and initiated a go-around - which is a standard operating procedure if an initial landing is aborted at any time till the plane comes to a full stop.
Moments later, the crew again reported difficulty seeing the runway.
The flight had been granted authorisation to touch down on Runway 11 at exactly 8:43 am. However, there was no readback of landing clearance.
At 8:44 am, the air traffic personnel observed flames near the threshold of the runway, the ministry said.
According to the comprehensive account provided by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the aircraft involved was a Learjet 45 with registration VT-SSK, managed by the operator VSR Ventures.
