No Technical Failure in Plane Carrying Ajit Pawar, Says VSR Aviation Owner

VK Singh, the owner of the Delhi-based private company, said that there was no "technical failure" in the plane that crashed on Wednesday, killing five including Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.

Speaking to NDTV, Singh said that the Bombardier Learjet 45 was "very well maintained" and there was "absolutely no problem" with its condition.

"There was no technical failure in the aircraft," Singh stated.

It has to be noted that this is second accident for the VSR Aviation in the last few years after Learjet 45 crashed at Mumbai airport in September 2023.

On asking whether the company will consider grounding the remaining fleet, Singh asserted, "It Was A Fit Aircraft". "Why should I ground them? They are all fit aircraft. Why should I ground them? That's not my decision," he stated.

VK Singh explained that it is a "very, very dependable aircraft" worldwide. He pointed out that Sumit Kapur had over 16,000 hours of experience and First Officer Shambhavi Pathak had over 1500 hours of experience.

"He (Kapur) was very experienced on this type of airplane," he said.

Preliminary reports indicate the aircraft executed a go‑around on its first approach to Runway 11 because of reduced visibility, estimated at about 3,000 metres.

On the second approach, the crew reported the runway in sight but did not read back the final landing clearance at 08:43 am. Emergency teams observed flames near the runway threshold roughly one minute after that transmission; wreckage was later located to the left of the runway.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation said the pilots had difficulty spotting the runway during the initial approach and carried out a go‑around. No Mayday call was recorded.

The jet involved was a Learjet 45 (registration VT‑SSK), operated by Delhi‑based VSR Ventures Pvt. Ltd. It was operating a Mumbai-Baramati charter when it crashed at about 08:44 am with two crew and three passengers on board.