Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar Dies in Plane Crash

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and five others died Wednesday when the Learjet aircraft they were traveling in crashed while attempting to land at Baramati airport in Pune district.

The incident occurred around 8:45 a.m., shortly after the plane departed Mumbai at approximately 8:10 a.m. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation confirmed that all six people on board perished in the crash. Officials identified the victims as Pawar, two pilots, two personal assistants, and one Nationalist Congress Party worker. The aircraft, a six-to-eight-seater with registration VT-SSK, veered off the runway during descent, struck the ground, and burst into flames, according to eyewitness accounts and preliminary reports.

Pawar, 66, was en route to his home base in Baramati to attend several public meetings related to the upcoming Zilla Parishad elections. He had been in Mumbai the previous day for a state cabinet committee meeting on infrastructure, chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Local residents near the airport rushed to the scene upon hearing the impact and seeing smoke rise, assisting emergency responders in the initial moments before professional teams arrived.