Mumbai: An aircraft, similar to the one that crash-landed at Baramati on Wednesday, killing Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and four others, had also crashed while landing at the Mumbai airport in 2023, it has now come to light.
Both aircraft were Bombardier Learjet 45 business jets belonging to VSR Ventures Pvt Ltd.
The Learjet 45 is a twin-engine light business jet commonly used for corporate and VIP travel. Its compact size and high speed make it suitable for short and medium sectors, including flights to regional airports like Baramati.
The tail number of the aircraft that Pawar was on was VT-SSK, with the serial number 45-417. It was 16 years old. The jet was part of a larger fleet operated by VSR, which runs 17 aircraft.
The jet encountered difficulty during the landing phase, it has been reported, although the exact sequence of events is still being verified. Local airport personnel and emergency responders reached the site shortly after the impact and found the aircraft destroyed, with no signs of survival.
The aircraft has no known safety issues, VSR Ventures officials told India Today TV.
The aircraft was “100% safe” and the crew “fairly experienced”, VSR top official Vijay Kumar Singh said.
Poor visibility could have been a factor, although the final determination would come from the DGCA investigation, Singh said.
The two pilots who died in the crash were Sumit Kapoor and Sambhavi Pathak, Singh confirmed.
“We have lost our pilots, our passengers,” he said. “It is a very difficult moment for the company.”
VSR Ventures Pvt Ltd is based in New Delhi and was founded in August 2011. The company is primarily operated by Vijay Kumar Singh and Rohit Singh.
It provides charter services for business travel and medivac operations, describing itself as a round-the-clock aviation service.
According to company information, VSR has more than 15 years of operating experience, employs over 60 pilots and claims a 99% customer satisfaction rate. It operates from New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bhopal.
On September 14, 2023, a VSR Ventures-owned Learjet 45XR, registered as VT-DBL, crash-landed during heavy rain and low visibility while arriving from Visakhapatnam, it has been reported by India Today.
Investigation into the crash revealed that the aircraft drifted to the right of Runway 27 of the Mumbai airport after the autopilot was disconnected. Multiple cockpit warnings, including a stick shaker alert, stall warning, and EGPWS alerts, began sounding. The jet crash-landed near the intersection of Taxiways W and N. The fuselage broke into two sections before coming to a stop near stand C80.
Though a fire broke out, it was quickly put out. All eight occupants survived, though several were injured, including the co-pilot who suffered serious injuries.
After that crash, investigators examined crew inputs, visibility conditions, aircraft performance, and the series of cockpit warnings during the final approach.
The Baramati crash, which was far more tragic, is likely to lead to a full DGCA investigation, to reconstruct the final minutes of the flight. The inquiry will attempt to determine whether visibility, technical issues or other factors played a role in the loss of the aircraft and the deaths of all five people on board.
