Ajit Pawar Crash: Visibility Was Below Minimum, Says AAIB Report

The AAIB's preliminary report on the crash that killed Ajit Pawar found that visibility was well below the required minimum for landing at Baramati. The uncontrolled airfield also lacked proper meteorological facilities and navigational aids.

The visibility reported at Baramati on January 28, at the time of landing of the VT-SSK aircraft, which carried Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and crash landed, was below the minimum requirement of five kilometres, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau said in its Preliminary Report on Saturday.

Poor Airfield Conditions Cited in Report

AAIB's report noted that the crew asked for visibility while approaching Baramati, for which the tower replied as 3000 meters (three kilometres), well below the required visibility of five kilometres.

The report also highlighted that there is no meteorological facility available at Baramati Airfield, and the weather information is usually passed on to the aircraft with the help of a weather instrument installed in the temporary tower.

The inspection of the aerodrome at the Baramati Airfield revealed that the airport is an uncontrolled airfield and does not have any navigational aids other than wind socks.

Runway and Operational Deficiencies

The two wind socks are available towards the runway 29 side, while no wind sock was available towards the runway 11 side, where the aeroplane carrying Ajit Pawar attempted to land.

Highlighting other discrepancies with the aerodrome, the report said that only Visual Flight Rules (VFR) operations can be carried out; however, regular flying training operations and Non-scheduled operations are carried out at the airport.

The last runway re-carpeting was carried out in March 2016, and no runway re-carpeting has resulted in the fading of all the runway markings and the presence of loose gravel on the runway surface.

Investigation Details

The aircraft was attempting to land on runway 11 after obtaining landing clearance from Baramati tower.

Both the flight recorders, including Solid-State Flight Data Recorders (SSFDR) and Solid-State Cockpit Voice Recorder (SSCVR), were found in their original location at the tail portion of the aircraft wreckage. Both the recorders were removed from the wreckage and were quarantined for data recovery and further analysis, the report said.

AAIB said that the last flight for the aircraft VT-SSK operated for sector Mumbai-Surat-Mumbai on January 26, and the operating crew of that flight stated that they did not find any abnormality in the aircraft during the entire and even the technician stated that no abnormality was observed in the aircraft during the post flight inspection.

The probe agency found out that both pilots had flown to Baramati earlier and were aware of the topography of the airfield. The crew also had prior experience of operating a number of VIP flights and other flights to an uncontrolled airfield Including Baramati. The pilots had also passed the Breath Analyser (BA) Test.

Recommendations to DGCA

The probe authority recommended that DGCA issue necessary directions to all operators operating Visual Flight Rules (VFR) flights to uncontrolled airfields to strictly adhere to the laid down standard operating procedures.

Further, it asked the DGCA to issue necessary directions to all the aerodrome operators at the uncontrolled airfields to ensure that the flying operations are allowed only when the prevailing weather conditions are within the criteria laid down in the relevant DGCA regulations.

AAIB also suggested audit or surveillance of stakeholders in the uncontrolled fields.

It recommended that DGCA take necessary measures to enhance the landing aids along with basic meteorological facilities at these airports.

The Crash Incident

Pawar died on the morning of January 28 when the Learjet 45 aircraft (VT-SSK) carrying him crash-landed while attempting to land at Baramati airport in Pune district. The aircraft went down near the runway threshold, killing all five people on board. Among the deceased were Pawar, his personal security officer, a flight attendant, and two pilots. Ajit Pawar was travelling from Mumbai to Baramati to campaign for the Zilla Panchayat elections.

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