The tragic news of the death of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in a plane crash has resulted in an outpouring of grief from many political leaders. The aircraft was travelling to Baramati where Pawar was scheduled to speak at a public rally for Zilla Parishad elections before it met its end. Eyewitness accounts describe moments of terror, dread and despair as the aircraft went down.
While speaking to news agency ANI, an eyewitness at the spot said that there was a massive explosion and seconds later, the aircraft caught fire.
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Witness describes incident
"I saw it with my eyes. This is really painful. When the aircraft descended, it seemed it would crash, and it did crash. It then exploded. There was a massive explosion. After that, we rushed here and saw that the aircraft was on fire.
The eyewitness further informed that after the aircraft caught fire, there were explosions and people reached the accident site. "There were 4-5 explosions in the aircraft again. More people came here, and they tried to pull the people out (of the aircraft). But since this was a huge fire, people could not help. Ajit Pawar was onboard and this is really painful for us. I can't describe it in words," the witness described.
#WATCH | Crash landing in Baramati | Baramati, Maharashtra: An eyewitness at the spot says, "I saw it with my eyes. This is really painful. When the aircraft descended, it seemed it would crash, and it did crash. It then exploded. There was a massive explosion. After that, we… pic.twitter.com/fBQplnxHON
— ANI (@ANI) January 28, 2026
The crash
According to aviation officials and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on January 28, a Learjet 45 with registration number VT-SSK, operated by VSR, crashed at approximately 8.45 am at Baramati Airport due to a failed emergency landing attempt. The aircraft was carrying Ajit Pawar, his personal security officer, an attendant and two crew members—the pilot-in-command and the first officer.
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Media reports show visuals from the crash site, including the mangled wreckage engulfed in flames as many villagers and emergency personnel gathered at the scene.
