Private jet firm in Ajit Pawar crash flagged for maintenance and pilot-training lapses in earlier 2023 accident

File image of rescue operations after VSR Ventures Learjet 45 aircraft VT-DBL operating a flight from Visakhapatnam to Mumbai with 6 passengers and 2 crew members on board, veered off the runway at Mumbai International Airport in Mumbai | Photo Credit: ANI

An investigation into a 2023 private-jet crash involving the same charter company whose aircraft later crashed, killing Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, has found systemic lapses in maintenance, pilot training and oversight by aviation regulator DGCA.

The Learjet 45XR,operated by VSR Ventures Pvt Ltd, crashed while approaching Mumbai from Visakhapatnam on September 14, 2023, in heavy rain and poor visibility. All six people on board were seriously injured, but there were no fatalities. Less than three years later, a similar aircraft operated by the same charter company crashed in comparable conditions in Baramati on January 28, killing all five people on board, including Ajit Pawar. The probe report into the Baramati crash is still pending

The Accident Investigation Bureau report also found that in the 2023 crash the pilots may have felt pressured to land despite adverse weather, rather than abort the approach, because the window for private-jet landings at Mumbai airport was closing. The crash happened at 5.02 p.m.