Mumbai: Union Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu on Thursday sought the Maharashtra government’s cooperation for expeditious conduct of the probe into the plane crash which killed Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four others at the Baramati airport in Pune district.
In a letter to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, a day after the tragedy, he sought the government’s support for accessing the crash site, local administrative assistance, and coordination with ground agencies, among other steps.
Key outcomes of the investigation will be shared with the state government, he said in the missive.
- Evidence in Custody: The flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder (the black box) were recovered from the charred wreckage of the Learjet 45XR and have been transported to Delhi. These devices are expected to provide definitive data on the aircraft’s final minutes in the dense smog.
- Adherence to Protocol: The minister stated that the probe has been initiated under the Aircraft Accident and Incident Rules, ensuring that all technical records, pilot certifications, and operational logs from the carrier, VSR Ventures, are scrutinised.
- Infrastructure Review: Addressing Fadnavis’s concerns regarding future safety, Naidu noted that “appropriate measures” and potential reforms for uncontrolled airfields will be implemented once the final report is received.
While the AAIB leads the technical investigation, Naidu emphasised that the cooperation of the Maharashtra government and local Baramati administration remains “valuable” for the inquiry.
“Assistance from the local administration will be required to verify ground-level facts and eyewitness accounts,” the minister wrote. He further assured the Chief Minister that the completed investigation report would be shared in its entirety with the state government to ensure full transparency.
Preliminary reports from the site indicate that the aircraft, piloted by a veteran with over 15,000 flying hours, was attempting a second landing after a “go-around” due to poor visibility. The jet was cleared to land at 8:43 am but failed to provide a mandatory “read-back” to controllers, crashing just one minute later.
While the operator has denied any technical malfunctions, the AAIB is investigating whether a sudden systems failure or a “cockpit emergency” occurred in the final seconds after the last radio contact.
