Officials said that by the time NDRF and other emergency response teams reached the location, the locals had pulled out the bodies of the deceased which were sent to hospital. (Express Photo by Arul Horizon)
Following the crash of the chartered aircraft in Baramati in which five persons including Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar were killed, a case of Accidental Death (AD) has been registered with Pune Rural Police. The Maharashtra state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is likely to conduct the inquiry into it. Meanwhile, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) of the Ministry of Civil Aviation has taken over the investigation into the crash.
The civil aviation ministry has said that on Wednesday, a Learjet 45 aircraft, with registration VT-SSK, operated by VSR Ventures Pvt Ltd, was involved in an air accident at Baramati while operating a flight for sector Mumbai to Baramati. “There were five persons on board including two crew members. The passengers included Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra Ajit Pawar. All the occupants of the aircraft received fatal injuries,” the ministry said.
The aircraft crashed at the end of the runway of the Baramati airport sometime between 8.45 am and 8:50 am.
“After receiving information about the crash, multiple teams from the Baramati and nearby police stations were rushed to the location. The crash had resulted in major fire on the debris of the aircraft. Fire brigade and other emergency response agencies including the National Disaster Response Force were informed about the accident. Within an hour after the crash, the site was secured using cordon tape. Some locals initially tried to douse the fire but it was too intense. As the fire tender arrived at the location, it started spraying water and the fire was controlled,” said a senior officer from Pune Rural police.
Critical Timeline: VT-SSK, Plane Learjet 45, Jan 28, 2026
Officials said that by the time NDRF and other emergency response teams reached the location, the locals had pulled out the bodies of the deceased which were sent to hospital. A team from the Regional Forensic Sciences Laboratory reached the location and secured the crash site.
A senior officer from Maharashtra police said, “As per the procedure in the case of any accident, an accidental death (AD) case has been registered with Baramati police station under Pune Rural Police. We need to understand that this is just an incident report. And since the death is of a high-ranking public office holder, the Maharashtra CID is likely to conduct this inquiry. An official order in this regard will be issued from the government. It needs to be clarified that police will not be conducting the probe of the crash, that is solely AAIB domain. The police will prepare a complete report of the facts known and prepare an inquiry report. The findings of the AAIB probe will be included in the police report.”
Top brass of Maharashtra police including Director General of Police Sadanand Date reached Baramati early afternoon. Thousands of people from across Pune and Maharashtra started arriving in Baramati in the afternoon. Pune Rural police deployed a large force on ground including those from neighbouring districts, personnel from home guard among others.
Speaking about the AAIB probe, a former official from the Ministry of Civil Aviation said, “Immediately on receipt of notification of an occurrence, AAIB deputes investigators to reach the site and gather evidence. The primary aim for the initial investigation is to gather and preserve perishable evidence, for subsequent analysis, that may be lost over time and not available to the Investigators after a delay. Steps of the probe include mapping of impact terrain, wreckage analysis, photography and videography, gathering recorded data from on-board system equipment, gathering data from ATC and radar stations and metrological records and obtaining samples from the site. Based on the analysis of the evidence, a report is prepared.”
Curated by Shiv Shakti Mishra
