The Bombardier Learjet-45 (VT-SSK), carrying Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, left behind nothing but scattered debris and charred remains at the edge of Baramati Airport's tabletop runway. The tail of the plane was the only part visible amidst the burnt remnants.
Firefighters had subdued the blaze and departed, yet throughout Wednesday the crash site saw an assembly of party supporters, locals, officials, forensic teams, and aviation ministry personnel. Nearby, less than 100 feet from the runway, this barren area with shrubs and grasses is now etched in memory as the site where the Pawar family heir and four others met their untimely fate.
Source: aajtak
Their bodies were burnt beyond recognition. Flight data shows the plane appeared on radar shortly after departing Mumbai, around 7:56 AM. As it approached Baramati, it initially vanished from radar near the airstrip at approximately 8:37 AM, about 20 kilometers away. Open-source platform Flightradar24 indicates it reappeared approximately two minutes later, at 8:39 AM. The flight path shows a curved arc, signaling a go-around maneuver.
Source: aajtak
A go-around maneuver implies that when a pilot aborts a landing attempt, the aircraft ascends again. The plane was sighted for the last time on radar at around 8:43 AM and then vanished. Analysis from AajTak of flight path and altitude data reveals that as Baramati neared, the plane kept descending.
Source: aajtak
Upon reappearing at 8:39 AM, the aircraft's altitude increased, indicating an attempt at a second approach. It then descended again for another landing attempt before disappearing from radar. News of its crash followed soon after, claiming the lives of Ajit Pawar, his PSO Vidip Jadhav, flight attendant Pinky Mali, Pilot-in-Command Captain Sumit Kapoor, and Co-Pilot Shambhavi Pathak.
