Ajit Pawar plane crash: Another Learjet 45 of VSR Aviation had crash landed at Mumbai airport in 2023

“The aircraft took off normally from Visakhapatnam and the flight en route was uneventful. The aircraft established contact with Mumbai tower and was instructed to prepare for landing. The aircraft was cleared to land on Runway 27 and was given landing clearance at 113109 UTC (5:01 pm IST). At the time of landing, Mumbai Airport was experiencing heavy rains and reduced visibility,” the AAIB said in its preliminary investigation report into the accident, which occurred on September 14, 2023.

The crash’s final investigation report is not available on the AAIB website, and it is not clear what other factors contributed to the crash. Aircraft accident preliminary reports usually don’t delve too much into the causes and largely provide details of what happened.

On Wednesday morning, a VSR Aviation Learjet 45 (registered as VT-SSK) crashed as it prepared to land at the Baramati airport. Along with Ajit Pawar, there were four others on board the ill-fated aircraft—Pawar’s personal security officer, one attendant, and two pilots. All five lost their lives in the accident. The jet took off from the airport at around 8:10 am and disappeared from the radar at about 8:45 am, as per the flight tracking data from Flightradar24. The flight path shows the aircraft making a loop to line up with the runway as it prepared to land at the Baramati airport, before disappearing from the flight tracker.

What happened in the 2023 crash of a VSR Learjet 45

According to the initial probe report on the VT-DBL accident, the aircraft continuously drifted right as it approached the runway, and about 40 seconds after the autopilot was disconnected, an alert sounded in the cockpit accompanied by a warning that the aircraft could stall. This was followed by ground proximity warnings, and the aircraft then crash landed at the shoulder of the intersection of two taxiways of the Mumbai airport.

“As a result, the aircraft’s fuselage broke into two pieces and skidded, finally coming to a stop near the intersection of Taxiway U and Taxiway N on an unpaved area…Following the crash, a fire broke out and fire tenders rushed to the site and extinguished the fire. All occupants of the aircraft were evacuated, but they sustained various injuries due to the impact and were immediately admitted to the nearest hospital. Passengers and PIC (pilot in command) were discharged after precautionary treatment. The co-pilot received serious injuries and was admitted for a longer time,” the preliminary probe report said.

During the onsite inspection by investigators, it was observed that the aircraft’s nose section sustained damage. Its wing had separated, and the forward section of the fuselage broke away from the central section. Both the nose landing gear and main landing gear were broken. However, the tail and both engines remained attached to the plane’s fuselage.

The preliminary report said that the pilot in command had around 6,100 of flying hours under his belt, with around 430 hours on the Learjet 45. The co-pilot was relatively inexperienced, with a total flying experience of 540 hours, of which 340 were on the Learjet 45.

Learjet 45 and VSR Aviation

The Learjet 45 is a mid-size business jet aircraft manufactured by Canada’s Bombardier Aerospace, with around 640 such planes built during its manufacturing run between 1995 and 2012. According to the DGCA database, VSR had a fleet of 18 aircraft, including the one that crashed on Wednesday. The operator is based out of Delhi’s Vasant Kunj area, as per the DGCA records.

As per information available on the operator’s website, its main services include private jet charter and leasing, and air ambulance services, and operates primarily from Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bhopal. According to Registrar of Companies (RoC) records, VSR Aviation seemingly has two companies its fold—VSR Ventures and VSR Aero Engineering—with Vijay Kumar Singh and Rohit Singh listed as directors. According to sources, Rohit Singh is Vijay Kumar Singh’s son, and both are pilots by training.

“VSR Aviation, with a team of experienced Aviation Professionals, also provides Aviation Consultancy, Spare Parts Supply, Aircraft Management (Operations, Maintenance, and Commercials), Liaisoning and Coordination with MOCA (Ministry of Civil Aviation), MHA (Ministry of Home Affair), DGCA, DGFT (Directorate General of Foreign Trade), BCAS (Bureau of Civil Aviation Security), AAI (Airports Authority of India), and other organizations. VSR Aviation is dedicated to providing world-class aviation services and associate support to its customers in India for non-scheduled air transport,” says VSR Aviation website.

The website states that the operator has over 60 pilots and around 15 years of experience.