Accidental Death Report Registered in Baramati Plane Crash That Killed Ajit Pawar And Four Others

Pune: Police have registered an Accidental Death Report (ADR) in connection with the plane crash that killed Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four others at Baramati airport in Pune district on Wednesday.

Pawar (66) was travelling in a chartered Learjet aircraft that crashed barely 200 metres from the edge of the tabletop runway at Baramati airport shortly after attempting to land in the morning. All five persons on board were killed in the incident.

“We have registered an accidental death report (ADR) with the Baramati taluka police station”, a senior officer from Pune Rural Police confirmed.

As per established procedure, the ADR will be handed over to the Maharashtra Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which will conduct a detailed probe based on the findings of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB). The AAIB, functioning under the Ministry of Civil Aviation, has already taken over the technical investigation into the crash.

According to reports in cases involving the death of an influential public representative in an accident, the investigation is carried out by the CID. They have not yet received formal orders, but it is likely that CID will be directed to probe the ADR registered by local police, sources said.

Ajit Pawar, who headed the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), had departed from Mumbai earlier in the day to address four election rallies in Pune district ahead of the February 5 Zilla Parishad polls.

Those killed along with Pawar were Captain Sumit Kapoor, who had logged over 15,000 hours of flying experience, co-pilot Captain Shambhavi Pathak with 1,500 flying hours, Pawar’s personal security officer Vidip Jadhav, and flight attendant Pinky Mali.

According to a government statement detailing the sequence of events, the Learjet was initially asked to execute a go-around due to poor visibility at Baramati airport. After subsequently receiving clearance to land, the aircraft did not give any read-back to Air Traffic Control (ATC) and moments later burst into flames near the edge of the runway.

Authorities said further details will emerge after the completion of the AAIB’s technical inquiry and the CID’s investigation into the ADR.

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