12 November,2026 06:03 PM IST | | mid-day online correspondent
Fire services personnel, an ambulance and police personnel reached the airport soon after the incident. Pic via special arrangement
A trainer aircraft skidded off the runway at Maharashtra's Solapur airport on Thursday while taking off, police said. The pilot escaped unhurt in the incident.
Visuals from the scene showed the aircraft in a nose-down position after skidding off the runway. The female pilot was safe, an official said.
The aircraft, operated by a flying club, veered off the paved surface of the runway during take-off at around 2.30 pm, the official said.
Fire services personnel, an ambulance and police personnel reached the airport soon after the incident.
In a similar incident in August, a trainer aircraft operated by a private company crash-landed at Baramati airport in Maharashtra's Pune district.
No injuries were reported.
The incident occurred around 12.35 pm within the airport premises, a short distance from the runway. The aircraft suffered minor damage.
The incident comes around seven months after then Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four others were killed when their Learjet 45 aircraft crashed near Baramati airport in January.
Pawar was travelling in the VSR Ventures-owned aircraft along with his personal security officer, an attendant and two cockpit crew members.
The aircraft, operated by pilot-in-command Sumit Kapur and first officer Shambhavi Pathak, crashed during its second attempt to land at Baramati airport on January 28.
Following the fatal accident, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) conducted a probe into the crash. In its preliminary report, the agency stated that visibility at the time of the incident was below the required level.
The AAIB report also raised concerns over the condition of the Baramati airport runway, flagging fading runway markings and loose gravel on the runway surface.
The investigation agency subsequently recommended that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) ensure that prescribed safety standards are properly maintained at uncontrolled airfields.
The AAIB is expected to submit its final report into the Pawar aircraft crash by January next year. The findings are expected to provide further details about the circumstances surrounding the fatal accident and the factors that contributed to it.
The Pune crash-landing is also not the first trainer aircraft accident reported at Baramati this year. In May, another trainer aircraft operated by a private company crashed near the Baramati airstrip.
The May incident occurred near Gojubavi village, adjacent to the Baramati airstrip. No serious injuries were reported, and the trainee pilot, who was the only person on board, escaped safely.
(With PTI inputs)
