Ajit Pawar killed in Baramati plane crash

Five people, including Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, died in the Baramati plane crash on Wednesday morning, according to the flight details.

Apart from Deputy CM Pawar, the people onboard the plane, Learjet 45 aircraft (registration VT-SSK) operated by VSR, included a personal security officer (PSO), an attendant, and two crew members -- a Pilot-in-Command (PIC) and a Second-in-Command (SIC).

The deceased have been identified as Vidip Jadhav (male), Pinky Mali (female). Additionally, the crew members were PIC Sumit Kapur and SIC Shambhavi Pathak, according to the passenger list.

Amid ongoing elections to the Zilla Parishads and Panchayat Samitis, Dy CM Ajit Pawar was travelling from Mumbai to Baramati to attend a public meeting.

Emergency services and senior security officials have reached the site in Baramati. Rescue teams were deployed immediately after the aircraft lost control during the landing phase.

Three bodies were rushed to the Baramati Medical College. The identification of the bodies is underway, as per the Pune Superintendent of Police (SP).

A team of DGCA officials has arrived at the plane crash site.

More details were awaited about the plane crash. According to the reports, locals had rushed to the spot on seeing the plane crashing.

This incident comes after several aviation-related scares for the leader. In October 2024, a helicopter intended to pick up his party colleague Sunil Tatkare crashed in Pune, and there have been previous instances of emergency landings in the region due to bad weather.