Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: The aircraft carrying Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar crashed in Baramati on Wednesday morning, moments after being cleared to land, according to details provided by ministry of civil aviation citing the person manning air traffic controller (ATC) at the airfield.The crash occurred at around 8.44am, barely a minute after the aircraft was cleared to land on Runway 11. Flames were seen near the runway threshold moments after the clearance, prompting the immediate dispatch of emergency services to the site. All five people on board, including two crew members died.
Baramati is an “uncontrolled airfield”, where traffic information is shared by instructors or pilots from flying training organisations operating at the airport, rather than by a full-fledged Air Traffic Control (ATC) unit, the readout said.
Initially, ‘winds were calm’
As per the account, the aircraft, registered VI-SSK, first established contact with Baramati at 8.18am. The next communication took place when the aircraft was 30 nautical miles inbound, after it was released by Pune Approach. The crew was advised to descend under Visual Meteorological Conditions (VMC) at the pilot’s discretion.When the crew enquired about local conditions, they were informed that “winds were calm” and visibility was approximately 3,000 metres.“The crew enquired about the winds and visibility and they were informed that the winds were calm and visibility was around 3000 mts,” the official statement said.
1st approach to landing: ‘Runway not in sight’
During the first approach to Runway 11, the crew reported that the “runway was not in sight”. Following this, they initiated a go-around, aborting the landing attempt.After the go-around, the aircraft was asked to report its position. The crew responded that they were again on the final approach for Runway 11. They were instructed to report once the runway was visible.Initially, the crew said the runway was “currently not in sight” and that they would call back once it was visible. A few seconds later, they reported that the runway was in sight.“They were asked to report runway in sight. They replied ‘runway is currently not in sight, will call when runway is in sight’. After a few seconds they reported that the runway is in sight,” the statement said.
Plane gets landing clearance, then flames erupt
At 8.43am, the aircraft was cleared to land on Runway 11. However, according to the statement, the crew “did not provide a readback” or acknowledgement of the landing clearance.Just a minute later, at 8.44am, flames were observed near the threshold of Runway 11. Emergency services were immediately dispatched to the site.“The aircraft was cleared to land on runway 11 at 0843IST, however, they did not give a readback of the landing clearance. Next, the ATC saw the flames around the threshold of runway 11 at 0844 IST. The emergency services then rushed to the crash site,” the readoutsaid.The wreckage of the aircraft was later found on the left side of the runway, abeam the threshold of Runway 11.The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has taken over the probe into the crash.
