Ajit Pawar plane crash death: Baramati Airfield, with two training academies, no stranger to incidents
The airfield was leased to step-down subsidiaries of Reliance Infrastructure Limited in 2009 along with four other similar airfields in Maharashtra for development, but MIDC took back possession in 2025 due to lack of development and flights.
The crash site in Baramati where DCM Ajit Pawar and 6 others killed in a flight craft on Wednesday. (Express photographs by Arul Horizon)
The Baramati Airfield, where a flight crash on January 28 led to the death of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and five others, is not new to aircraft incidents. The airfield has two training academies situated on premises, the Redbird Flight Training Academy and Academy of Carver Aviation Private Ltd, and multiple aircrafts taking off from the field have suffered incidents since 2013.
However, none of the previous reported incidents had any fatalities.
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About the Airport
According to information on the Maharashtra Airports Development Company (MADC) website, Baramati is one of the 15 ‘domestic unlicensed airports’ in the state. It is owned by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC).
According to information in an AAIB report on a July 2022 crash, the airport is managed by Baramati Airport Limited (BAL). The airport has one 7710ft (2350m) asphalt runway. Shivaji Taware, Manager of the Baramati Airfield, told The Indian Express that the strip was first set up in the 1990s and is spread across 450 acres. He said that the airfield saw six to seven charter flights per month, mostly involving politicians.
Incidents at Baramati airfield
The airfield was leased to step-down subsidiaries of Reliance Infrastructure Limited in 2009 along with four other similar airfields in Maharashtra for development, but MIDC took back possession in 2025 due to lack of development and flights.
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On the eve of the air crash, the Baramati airport building, which has two cabins and one room, had more mediapersons than airport officials present. A heavy deployment of police force was present at the airfield with ministers visiting the accident site throughout the day on Wednesday.
The crash site in Baramati where DCM Ajit Pawar and 6 others killed in a flight craft on Wednesday. (Express photographs by Arul Horizon) 
Incidents at Baramati airfield
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