New Video Shows Ajit Pawar's Plane Tilting To The Left Before Crash

New CCTV footage has emerged showing the Learjet 45 carrying Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four others tilting to its left moments before crashing near the runway at the Baramati airport on Wednesday morning.

The video shows the aircraft descending at a fast pace and rolling sharply to the left fairly close to the ground. Aviation experts told NDTV it is very unusual for an aircraft to do this before landing and said it could be a result of a technical fault or the pilots trying to compensate for some kind of stresses on the plane. 

The Learjet 45, owned by VSR Ventures Pvt Ltd and having the registration VT-SSK, took off from Mumbai with Pawar, his Personal Security Officer Vidip Jadhav, Captain Sumit Kapoor, First Officer Shambhavi Pathak and flight attendant Pinky Mali, at 8.10 am. Around 30 nautical miles from Baramati, the pilots were informed about weather conditions and told that the visibility was about 3 km, which is considered safe for landing. 

After the aircraft began its approach, the pilots said they could not see the landing strip, and were asked to do a go-around. As it approached the runway again around 8.34 am, it was given clearance for landing.

Minutes later, the plane reportedly 'went silent', or stopped sending signals, and crashed in a fireball near the lone runway at the airport. 

The CCTV footage shows the time the plane tilted as 8.44 am and it is then seen losing altitude rapidly.

All five people on board had died by the time rescuers reached the spot and sources said Pawar was identified by the wristwatch he was wearing. 

The death of the 66-year-old NCP chief, who was a six-time deputy chief minister, leaves a huge vacuum in Maharashtra politics. It will affect equations in the ruling Mahayuti, where the NCP is allied with the BJP and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. A much-talked-about possible reunion with the Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP - Ajit Pawar had split the party in 2023 - will also be impacted, with the call now needing to be taken by the second rung of his party.

Paying tribute to Ajit Pawar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi described him as a "leader of the people".

"He was widely respected as a hardworking personality at the forefront of serving the people of Maharashtra. His understanding of administrative matters and passion for empowering the poor and downtrodden were also noteworthy. His untimely demise is very shocking and saddening. Condolences to his family and countless admirers. Om Shanti," PM Modi wrote on X.

The Prime Minister and Home Minister Amit Shah are likely to attend Pawar's last rites, which will be held at 11 am in Baramati on Thursday.