28 January,2026 03:17 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Pic/PTI
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four others were killed on Wednesday after a chartered aircraft carrying them crash-landed at Baramati airport in Pune district, officials said.
The aircraft, a Learjet operated by Delhi-based VSR Ventures, was carrying five people on board, including Pawar, two accompanying staff members and two crew members. All five occupants died in the crash, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
Those on board the ill-fated flight were Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Vidip Jadhav, Pinki Mali, Sumit Kapoor and Sambhavi Pathak. The DGCA confirmed that no person survived the accident.
"A Learjet aircraft carrying the Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and four others crash-landed at Baramati airport. There were no survivors," a senior DGCA official said, adding that a team of DGCA officials has been rushed to the crash site to investigate the incident.
According to the aviation regulator, the aircraft had two crew members - the pilot-in-command and the first officer - and three passengers, including Pawar, one personal security officer and one attendant.
Flight tracking data showed that the aircraft took off from Mumbai at around 8.10 am and disappeared from radar at approximately 8.45 am. The crash occurred at around 8.50 am, a police official said.
Pawar, 66, was travelling from Mumbai to Baramati to address public meetings as part of the campaign for the February 5 zilla parishad elections in Maharashtra.
He is survived by his wife Sunetra Pawar, a Rajya Sabha member, and two sons, Parth and Jay. Pawar was a senior leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which had recently contested the Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporation elections in alliance with the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction).
The Maharashtra government declared a three-day state mourning till January 30, during which the national flag will be flown at half-mast on all buildings. There will be no official entertainment during the mourning period.