A Learjet 45 came down in an open field near Baramati Airport at about 8:46 a.m. on January 28, 2026, and Ajit Pawar, the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, was among the five people who died on board. Nobody survived.
The charter had left Mumbai for Baramati, in Pune district. Pawar was on his way to address public meetings ahead of the Zilla Parishad elections. The jet was on its second approach to runway 11 when it veered off, burst into flames and was destroyed on impact. CCTV footage showed the aircraft flipping and losing control before it hit the ground and exploded. Reports said the pilot had issued a warning minutes earlier. Low visibility and heavy fog were blamed for the crash.
A villager who got to the site first described it to the news agency ANI. “When the aircraft descended, it seemed it would crash, and it did. It then exploded,” he said. People tried to pull the passengers out, but the fire was too fierce. He counted four to five more explosions inside the aircraft.
Who was on board
The plane was a 16-year-old Learjet 45XR, registration VT-SSK, operated by VSR Ventures. Sumit Kapur, who had logged 16,500 flight hours, was the pilot. Shambhavi Pathak was the co-pilot and Pinky Mali the flight attendant. Pawar’s personal security officer, Vidip Jadhav, was the other passenger.
Kapur was not supposed to be flying that day. He filled in for a friend who was stuck in traffic.
The investigation
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau reached the scene and is working to establish the cause, and the flight recorder was recovered from the wreckage. VK Singh, the owner of VSR Ventures, said a technical failure was unlikely and that poor visibility was the main factor.
On February 25, 2026, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation noted concerns about airworthiness oversight, flight operations and flight management systems. It grounded four Learjet aircraft belonging to VSR Ventures.
Tributes
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis declared three days of state mourning and called the death “an immeasurable loss”. Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X that he was saddened by the news. Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said he was “deeply shocked and pained”. Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, who said she and Pawar had differences, called him “a really committed man who kept to his work.”
Pawar had been in Mumbai the day before, at a meeting of the Maharashtra Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure chaired by Fadnavis. His cousin Supriya Sule, an MP and Sharad Pawar’s daughter, left for Maharashtra after hearing of his death. Leaders from across parties gathered at the Pawar residence.
A four-decade career
Pawar’s career began in 1982 with a seat on the board of a cooperative sugar factory. In 1991 he became chairman of the Pune District Central Cooperative Bank. That year he also won the Baramati seat in the Lok Sabha, then gave it up for his uncle, Sharad Pawar. He went on to win the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly seat from Baramati seven times, starting with a 1991 by-election.
In November 2019 he helped split the Nationalist Congress Party and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government, taking the deputy chief minister’s post again. In February 2024 the Election Commission recognized his faction as the official NCP. He leaves his wife, Sunetra, and two sons, Jay and Parth.
Thousands of supporters filled the streets of Baramati for his funeral. He was cremated with full state honours, and Home Minister Amit Shah was among those who attended.
Sources
- 2026 Baramati Learjet 45 crash – Wikipedia
- Ajit Pawar dead: Ajit pawar plane crash, 5 others die in plane crash during emergency landing in Maharashtra's Baramati | Pune News – The Times of India
- 2026 Baramati Learjet 45 crash
Sources
- Ajit Pawar: Veteran Indian politician dies in plane crash – BBC News
- 2026 Baramati Learjet 45 crash – Wikipedia
