Low visibility, operational issues cited in AAIB report in Baramati plane crash

Mumbai: The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has cited low visibility, lack of meteorological facilities, operational gaps in the preliminary findings into the 28 January 2026 Learjet crash at Baramati airport which claimed five lives including the then Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and NCP President Ajit Pawar.

The incident involved a Learjet 45 XR aircraft bearing registration number VT-SSK, belonging to VSR Ventures Pvt Ltd, that crashed at Baramati airport, which is an uncontrolled airfield managed by Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC).

The business jet was operating a non-scheduled flight from Mumbai to Baramati and crash-landed around 0846 hours while landing at Baramati in the Pune district.

The airfield is primarily used for flying training operations with two flying training organisations (FTOs) having their base at Baramati — Carver Aviation Pvt Ltd and Redbird Flying Training Academy Pvt Ltd.

There were two temporary ATC towers each being operated and maintained by students and instructors of the FTOs for their respective flight operations and their VIP flights.

Pointing the gaps, the AAIB report point out that the airfield and does not have any navigational aids other than wind socks.

“Two windsocks have been installed at the aerodrome, both towards runway 29 side. No wind sock was available towards runway 11 side, which is a table-top runway,” it said

The last runway re-carpeting was carried out in March 2016 and thereafter no runway re-carpeting was carried out which resulted into fading of all the runway markings and presence of loose gravels on the runway surface. “There is no boundary wall around the aerodrome. The available fencing is not adequate and does not cover the entire aerodrome,” it said pointing out possible security issues.

Elaborating on the sequence of events, the AAIB report stated that on the day of accident, the tower was manned by a ground instructor of one of the FTO who was communicating with the aircraft to assist the landing.

Poor visibility, shallow fog

“The crew of VT-SSK asked for visibility while approaching Baramati for which the tower replied as 3,000 meters by looking at the visibility markers. Further, while giving the landing clearance, the tower informed winds as

calm. Hence, the visibility reported at Baramati at the time of landing of aircraft was well below the minima required for VFR flight which is 5000 meters,” the report said.

About the weather at that point of time on the location, the AAIB, based on INSAT-3DR data concluded that there no significant clouding is seen over in and around Pune.

“However, over Baramati which is in a radial of 120 degree and 81 km from Pune airfield, presence of very shallow fog in patches can be inferred,” it added.

Last conversation

During the second approach the aircraft reported the field in sight and subsequently landing clearance was given by the Baramati tower for runway. The tower also reported the winds as calm. Later the aircraft was heard transmitting “Oh S**t... Oh S**t...”, before it crash landed on the left side of the runway abeam runway 11 threshold.

CCTV footage

Inferring from the basis of CCTV footage, it stated that the aircraft was observed to have banked right before impacting the terrain. “The aircraft first impacted the trees before hitting the ground which is at a lower elevation than the runway surface,” the report states.

Both recorders damaged

Both the flight recorders I- Solid-State Flight Data Recorders (SSFDR) and Solid-State Cockpit Voice Recorder (SSCVR) were subjected to thermal damage because of exposure to high temperatures during the accident. Hence, special recovery and analysis technique was required for this case.

The download from the SSFDR was attempted at the AAIB flight recorders lab in New Delhi and the raw data has been successfully downloaded from the unit.

The SSCVR has been sent to Honeywell for investigations. It will be downloaded with the assistance of National Transport Safety Board (NTSB) of United States as per the Standards & Recommended practices of ICAO.

BA done

As per the video clip and the Breath Analyser slip shared by the operator, the pre-flight BA tests for both the pilots were found to be negative. The technician available for arrival of the aircraft at Mumbai stated that no abnormality was observed in the aircraft during the post flight inspection carried out.

Rohit Pawar unhappy

Ajit Pawar’s nephew and MLA Rohit Pawar expressed dissatisfaction over the AAIB report into the Baramati plane crash. “What preliminary conclusion did the AAIB draw in the primary report? On the basis of this,  how will the CID investigation be conducted?,” he asked.

“The sentence in point 5.1 on page number 4 of this report—“Baramati airfield is situated in the Baramati District of the state Maharashtra'—is sufficient to show how seriously the AAIB prepared this report,” he said.