Poor visibility flagged in Ajit Pawar plane crash: Aviation Minister

Union Civil Aviation Minister K. Ram Mohan Naidu on Wednesday said preliminary information indicated that visibility was poor at Baramati airport when the chartered aircraft carrying Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar crashed while attempting to land.

Ajit Pawar and four others on board were killed after the aircraft crashed on Wednesday morning. Naidu, along with Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol, travelled from New Delhi to Pune to attend Pawar’s last rites.

“Teams from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) have reached the site and are carrying out a detailed probe. Preliminary inputs suggest that visibility was poor at the time the aircraft was attempting to land,” Naidu told reporters.

Explaining the sequence of events, the aviation minister said that during the first landing attempt, Air Traffic Control (ATC) at Baramati asked the pilot whether the runway was visible.

“The pilot responded in the negative, following which the aircraft carried out a go-around,” he said.

Naidu said that during the second approach, ATC again sought confirmation on runway visibility, to which the pilot responded affirmatively. “After ATC granted landing clearance, the aircraft crashed,” he said.

The minister stressed that the investigation would examine all possible factors, including weather conditions, technical aspects and operational procedures. “We are seeking more details, and the investigation will be conducted in a transparent and thorough manner,” Naidu said.

Officials said further clarity on the cause of the crash would emerge after the recovery and analysis of flight data and cockpit voice recordings, along with examination of ATC communications and weather reports at the time of the incident.

With inputs from PTI