Preliminary probe into Ajit Pawar plane crash flags low visibility among factors| India News
The VSR Aviation chartered jet carrying Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar crashed as the crew attempted to land in visibility of 3,000 metres, against a legal minimum of 5,000 metres for approaches at such airports, the preliminary investigation report has suggested.
All five people aboard the Learjet 45XR — including two pilots, a cabin attendant and two passengers — were killed when the aircraft came down to the left of Runway 11 at Baramati airport, struck trees and was engulfed in fire.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau’s preliminary report found that visibility at the time of landing was 3,000 metres and this was conveyed to the pilots. Visual Flight Rules (VFR) require a minimum of 5,000 metres. VFR refers to visual flight rules that apply when landing at airports without landing navigation instruments.
The report also mentioned what it said were systemic flaws. The figure itself was not formally measured. Baramati has no meteorological facility. Visibility was estimated by a ground instructor manning one of the airfield’s two temporary towers, who determined the distance by consulting a hand-drawn chart identifying permanent structures — water tanks, a police headquarters, a toll gate — at varying distances around the airfield.
That estimate was passed to the crew of VT-SSK as they descended toward Baramati. The crew continued the approach.
On their first attempt, the pilots reported being “visual with terrain” but unable to sight the airfield itself, and executed a go-around — a procedure in which a crew abandons an approach and climbs away to try again. They rejoined the circuit and made a second approach, this time on Runway 11, one end of which is a table-top with ground falling away sharply below the threshold.
At 8:43 a.m., the crew reported the field in sight. Sixteen seconds later, the tower cleared them to land, reporting winds as calm. Fourteen seconds after that, the crew transmitted “Oh St… Oh St…” The aircraft struck trees and the terrain beyond the runway edge.
Satellite imagery from INSAT-3DR captured between 8:45 and 9:12 a.m. showed “very shallow fog in patches” over Baramati. At nearby Pune airport, 81 kilometres away, official weather reports recorded visibility as low as 2,000 metres with mist during the same period. Mumbai, where the flight originated, was recording 2,500 metres visibility with smoke and haze.
The report notes the tower gave landing clearance without any recorded challenge to the crew over the sub-minima conditions.
In interim safety recommendations, the AAIB called on India’s aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, to direct all operators flying to uncontrolled airfields — those without a permanent air traffic control facility — to strictly follow standard operating procedures, and to ensure aerodrome operators permit flights only when weather meets regulatory thresholds.
The investigation is continuing. Flight data recorder information has been downloaded and is under analysis. Cockpit voice recorder data, which captures crew communications and cockpit sounds, was thermally damaged in the post-crash fire and is being sent to the United States for specialist recovery by the National Transportation Safety Board.