Ajit Pawar’s plane flew for around 35 minutes before crashing; belonged to Delhi-based charter operator VSR

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.

Initial information from the crash site indicates that low visibility conditions in the area might have played a major role in the accident. VSR’s Director Vijay Kumar Singh also said that it appears that the pilots faced visibility issues. The aircraft’s captain was highly experienced with over 15,000 flying hours under his belt, while the co-pilot had over 1,500 hours.

According to the initial information provided by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), as they approached Baramati, the pilots enquired about the wind and visibility conditions from the person managing the air traffic operations at the airport, and were informed that the winds were calm and visibility was around 3,000 metres. Following this, the aircraft proceeded to approach the airport, but decided against landing as they did not have the runway in sight, and decided to execute a go-around in order to try and land again.

The pilots eventually told the air traffic controller that they had spotted the runway, and were cleared to land at 8:43 am. The pilots however did not respond to the clearance, and a minute later, the controller saw flames at the runway threshold.

The Baramati airport is a regional airstrip used primarily for pilot training and private plane operations, and does not have navigational aids to help pilots operate during low visibility. They are required to land by visually navigating to the airport in the absence of navigational aids, which can be challenging if visibility is poor.

An AAIB team has left from Delhi for Pune, from where it will proceed to Baramati to inspect the crash site and initiate the investigation into the accident, as per information provided by the civil aviation ministry. AAIB Director General GVG Yugandhar, who was in Hyderabad, will be flying to Mumbai in view of the accident.

Also, Baramati is an uncontrolled airfield, which means that pilots operate there visually by avoiding other aircraft and maintaining self-separation, and use radio communication to operate at such airports. At the Baramati airport, traffic information is provided by the instructors or pilots from the flying schools there.

 

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AAIB has taken over the investigation. An AAIB team from Delhi has departed for the accident site, and AAIB Director General GVG Yugandhar, who was in Hyderabad, is also on his way to Baramati, MoCA said.

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, the Delhi-based VSR had a fleet of 18 aircraft–including seven Learjet 45 planes–through two companies prior to Wednesday’s crash. Notably, another Learjet 45 of VSR had crash landed at the Mumbai airport in September 2023 while attempting to land amid heavy rains and reduced visibility. There were six people on board that aircraft and they all survived the accident. That crash is still under investigation by the AAIB.

As per information available on the VSR 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 in 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 had received its Air Operator Permit (AOP) in 2014; it was last renewed in April 2023 and is valid till April 20, 2028. The operator’s last regulatory audit was carried out by DGCA in February 2025 and no major issue was flagged.