'Plane did not crash due to visibility issue': Rohit Pawar questions aviation company over uncle Ajit Pawar's death

"Ajit Pawar was a big political leader for Maharashtra. People of Maharashtra have doubts about his plane crash," Rohit said.

New Delhi: Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) MLA Rohit Pawar on Wednesday reiterated his doubts over the circumstances surrounding his uncle Ajit Pawar's plane crash, suggesting it might be a conspiracy.

Addressing a press conference here, he raised questions over the aviation company. Citing the Arrow company's handler, Manoj Pawar, the NCP (SP) leader hinted that the plane crash did not occur due to a visibility issue in Baramati.

"Ajit Pawar was a big political leader for Maharashtra. People of Maharashtra have doubts about his plane crash. We have compiled some information in last 13 days based on our sources. We are emotional about this matter. The most important thing here is that Manoj Pawar is the handler of the Arrow company," Rohit Pawar said.

"Manoj Pawar said 'Visibility is okay' in a group that included Ajit Dada's PAs, Maharashtra Aviation Director, and the pilot. VSR Owner Vijay Kumar Singh said, 'The aircraft was well maintained, pilots were experienced, and the accident occurred likely due to visibility issues.' There is something wrong with this statement," he added.

Pawar demanded that the investigating agencies review the tech log and other documents to identify the officials who signed them before the flight.

"A local said, 'The plane carrying Dada had a different sound and was flying low'. When the aircraft was stalled, the stalling could also be manual, or there may be a mechanical error. The pilot or anyone would have had that reaction, as it was by Pilot Pathak. You have to maintain the aircraft daily. Who signed the Tech Log? We demand that the documents need to be looked into during the investigation," he added.

He also flagged the lack of an Instrument Landing System (ILS) in Baramati and said that the investigation into a similar plane crash in 2023 should have been timely investigated.

He said, "A plane crash in 2023 in Mumbai shows a flat runway. There is no ILS (Instrument Landing System) in Baramati; there was a crash in Mumbai, even after an ILS in Mumbai. The probability of an accident increases in the absence of the ILS. That (in the 2023 crash) was also a VSR aircraft. If we had had prior information (on the probe), Ajit Pawar might not have been in an accident. Even today, whether it's our CM, our Minister, our leader, or a few days ago, Sachin Tendulkar has come to Delhi. He had also used VSR aircraft there. The way VSR maintains the aircraft is incorrect. As a result, the 2023 accident in Mumbai and Ajit Dada's accident occurred. Therefore, we request that everyone please do not use any VSR plane, no matter how big the emergency is."

Further, hitting out at the aviation company, he said that the European Aviation Safety Agency had cancelled the authorisation over the 2023 incident. Rohit Pawar alleged that the aviation company does not maintain their aircraft.

The Maharashtra MLA said, "Recently, EASA, the European Aviation Safety Agency, sent a message to the operator of VSR, saying how this accident happened in 2023. But no information was given there, not even through DGCA. So, due to the information not coming in, they cancelled the authorisation of VSR for the third-country operator. EASA, taking action, cancelled their license. Some senior journalists covering the aviation sector told me that the report was going to be given to the European agency through DGCA a few days ago, but one person deliberately stopped it. Who is that person? We may come to know later, but that person is a political person who has experience in aviation."

"There is a gap of 12 hours after duty; this company does not follow that. A cockpit voice recorder is closed in many of their aircraft. We have requested the data for this aircraft. They do not maintain a checklist and techlog. The plane's health is checked before it flies; here, it is not. A plane also has a typical life cycle. After that, the engine has to be changed. A lot of equipment has to be changed. They did not maintain these things or show that they had flown for 50 hours, whereas they actually flew 100 hours. We have come to know that some DGCA persons, being friends of Singh (VSR owner), its lisening was good with this government agency, we all have come to know this," he added.

Earlier, Rohit Pawar had alleged a conspiracy behind former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's death in a plane crash on January 28 in Maharashtra's Baramati. According to DGCA, five people, including the crew, on board the chartered plane flying from Mumbai, Maharashtra, to Baramati, died after a crash-landing occurred at the runway threshold in Baramati.

On February 7, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation are making rapid progress in probing the fatal crash of a chartered Learjet 45 that killed Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, along with his personal security officer, the pilot, co-pilot, and flight attendant near Baramati Airport.

Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol confirmed that the black box from the ill-fated aircraft has been successfully recovered and is under analysis.