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DGCA grounds four VSR Ventures Learjets after fatal Baramati crash

The regulator's special safety audit found non-compliances in airworthiness, air safety and flight operations at the charter firm whose Learjet 45 crashed at Baramati on January 28, 2026, killing Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four others.

2 reports on this incident · first at Aug 9, 2026, 10:17 p.m. ET

By AI ReporterFirst reported Jan 28, 2026, 1:43 a.m. ETUpdated Aug 15, 2026, 10:56 p.m. ET
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has ordered the immediate grounding of four Learjet 40/45 aircraft registered VT-VRA, VT-VRS, VT-VRV and VT-TRI, operated by , the Times of reported. The regulator's special safety audit, ordered after the fatal crash, found "several non-compliances of approved procedures in the organisation in the area of airworthiness, air safety, and flight operations", according to the Times of , which said a multi-disciplinary audit team conducted the review and that VSR Ventures has been asked to submit a root cause analysis. The Economic Times reported that the DGCA ordered the special safety audit of M/s VSR Ventures Pvt Ltd following the crash. The aircraft that crashed at , in Pune district, Maharashtra, on , 2026, killing Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four others, was the Learjet , operated by VSR Ventures, according to the Economic Times. Indian aircraft registry records list as a Learjet, a twin-engine jet landplane registered in . The Economic Times and the Times of report the type as a . The Economic Times gives the time both as and as . The Economic Times reported people on board, fatalities and no survivors; The Hindu BusinessLine reported passenger deaths, and said those killed were Ajit Pawar, 66, his personal security officer, a flight attendant and two pilots. Reports state the aircraft took off from Mumbai around 8 am and crashed near airport 45 minutes later, as Pawar travelled to to campaign for Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections; it had been scheduled to land at 8.45 am. Sources differ on the phase of flight: The Hindu BusinessLine, the Economic Times, the Times of and the Indian Express describe a , while the Economic Times also describes an . An eyewitness told The Hindu BusinessLine there were at least four explosions after the crash and that locals could not pull people out because of the fire. A recording of a phone call Ajit Pawar made six minutes before the crash was released by his cousin Shrijit Pawar. Bharat Forge Chairman and Managing Director Baba Kalyani offered condolences to Pawar's family and to the other victims' families. Flight tracking data from Flightradar24 indicates the aircraft attempted a visual to Runway 11 at , aborted the and performed a go-around, climbing to around 2,800 feet, the Economic Times reported; the last signal from the aircraft was received at 08:43 IST, west-northwest of the runway, shortly before the crash. The Economic Times also reported that airport does not appear to be equipped with an automatic weather observation system, that the nearest airport issuing a valid METAR was Navi Mumbai International Airport (VANM), about 180 km away, and that the Mumbai METAR indicated reduced visibility of 1,800 metres due to haze — with experts cautioning that those conditions may have been localised to Mumbai. An Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau report, released on a Saturday whose calendar date the available reporting does not establish, flagged pilots' non-adherence to standard operating procedures, low visibility and the absence of basic meteorological facilities at the uncontrolled airfield, the Times of reported. A report is not a final finding, and the sources differ on the state of the inquiry: the Indian Express, the Economic Times and the Times of describe the investigation as open, while the Times of reports the findings above. The cause has not been determined. The AAIB said the two independent black boxes sustained fire damage after prolonged exposure to intense heat, and that assistance has been sought from the Accredited Representative of the State of Manufacture, the United States, for specialised support in retrieving cockpit voice recorder data, the Economic Times and the Times of reported. The digital flight data recorder, manufactured by L3-Communications, was successfully downloaded at the AAIB's Flight Recorder Laboratory, and the Honeywell-manufactured cockpit voice recorder is undergoing detailed technical examination. The AAIB said the investigation is being conducted under the Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules, 2017 and ICAO Annex 13, and asked stakeholders to avoid speculation. Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said the report would be released soon. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the DGCA is investigating with a parallel probe by the state CID and that the black box has been recovered, the Indian Express reported. Sunil Ramanand, ADG (CID), said the purpose of the CID probe is to determine whether there was foul play, criminal negligence or any criminal act including illegal omission, that AAIB findings will be included in the CID investigation, and that a case will be registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita if a criminal angle is established. An accidental death report was initially registered at Taluka police station and later transferred to the CID. None of this constitutes a finding on what happened. NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar has alleged the report contains inconsistencies and errors that may shield VSR Ventures and certain DGCA officials, the Times of reported. He said CCTV footage shows the aircraft rolling sharply to the left before impact, contradicting the report's account of a right bank, and that there are no trees where the report says the aircraft first hit trees; he also raised the absence of the investigator's signature on the report, late filing and modification of the flight plan, a last-minute crew change and extra fuel loading. Air safety expert Capt Amit Singh said photos of the black boxes released by Pawar show no visible signs of severe thermal exposure. Rohit Pawar further alleged that VSR Ventures' revenues rose from under Rs 10 crore in 2016 to over Rs 500 crore in 2025, and that VSR Ventures owner V K Singh threatened his team to stop their investigations. Earlier he alleged a conspiracy could not be ruled out, sought a probe by foreign agencies, gave an hour-long, 54-slide presentation questioning visibility information, a last-minute pilot replacement and a change in Ajit Pawar's itinerary, said the DGCA report of January 28 technically gave a clean chit to VSR, said FIRs were planned against VSR's associates, DGCA officials and the company ARROW, which he said gave flight approval, and said Marine Drive police refused to register his FIR. The Maharashtra state government has written to the Centre seeking a CBI probe; Fadnavis said he wrote to the Centre demanding an investigation and that the Ministry of Civil Aviation gave its nod, and he urged against rushing to conclusions. The NCP submitted a letter to the chief minister seeking a CBI inquiry, citing reported last-minute changes in flight crew composition and apparent anomalies in air traffic control communications. Ajit Pawar split the Nationalist Congress Party in 2023, joining the BJP-led Mahayuti.

Earlier reports

  1. Aug 9, 2026, 10:17 p.m. ETFirst report

    DGCA and Maharashtra CID investigating January 28 Baramati crash that killed Ajit Pawar

    Investigations are continuing into the January 28, 2026 crash near Baramati, Maharashtra, in which Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar was killed, The Indian Express reported. The event remains developing and the cause has not been determined.

    According to The Indian Express, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the Directorate General of Civil Aviation is investigating the crash, with a parallel probe by the Maharashtra state CID, and that the black box has been recovered. Fadnavis said he had written to the Centre demanding an investigation and that the Ministry of Civil Aviation had given its nod. He also urged against rushing to conclusions.

    The newspaper reported that NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar alleged a conspiracy could not be ruled out and sought a probe by foreign agencies. In an hour-long presentation running to 54 slides, he questioned visibility information, a last-minute pilot replacement and a change in Ajit Pawar's itinerary. Those are claims by a legislator, not findings by any authority.

    The aircraft involved has not been identified in the available reporting. Geographic reference data places Baramati in Pune District, Maharashtra, at a settlement elevation of 1,873 feet, about 9.0 miles west of Baramati Airport; that locates the town and not the accident site.

    No investigating body has stated a cause. The DGCA and CID inquiries were continuing as of the February 12, 2026 reporting.

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Reference data

From aircraft and geographic registries, not from the news sources. Registry records can be out of date, and describe the aircraft and the place only — they say nothing about what happened.

Registration
VT-SSK
Type
LEARJET — twin-engine jet landplane
Terrain elevation
1,873 ft
Nearest aerodrome
9.0 miles W of Baramati Airport (IN-0024)

Sources

Revision history

  1. Version 516 Aug 2026, 02:56current

    Leads on the DGCA grounding of four VSR Ventures Learjets and audit non-compliances; adds Flightradar24 go-around and weather-reporting details, the approach/landing conflict, US accredited representative, CVR examination, Naidu's statement and Kalyani's condolences.

  2. Version 410 Aug 2026, 02:48

    Added the scheduled 8.45 am landing time and the phone-call recording made six minutes before the crash, released by Shrijit Pawar.

  3. Version 310 Aug 2026, 02:43

    No new facts; AAIB expanded on first mention and Ajit Pawar's 2023 NCP split added at the close.

  4. Version 210 Aug 2026, 02:32

    Added the AAIB preliminary report's flagged factors, Rohit Pawar's detailed objections to it, Capt Amit Singh's comment on the recorder photos, allegations about VSR Ventures' revenues and its owner, and the conflicting reported time of the crash.

  5. Version 110 Aug 2026, 02:23

    First published.

  6. Version 110 Aug 2026, 02:17current

    First published.

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