Union Aviation Minister K Ram Mohan Naidu on Wednesday said that the visibility was poor near the Baramati airport in Pune, when the aircraft carrying Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four others crashed earlier in the day, killing all the passengers.
"Teams from the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) and AAIB (Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau) have arrived to carry out a probe into the accident. Preliminary information suggests that visibility was poor at the time the aircraft was attempting to land," Naidu told reporters.
66-year old Ajit Pawar, his Personal Security Officer, an attendant, and two crew members (pilot in command and the first officer) were killed after the aircraft crash landed at Baramati. Pawar was travelling to Baramati from Mumbai to address public meetings as part of the campaign for the February 5 zilla parishad elections in the state.
According to Flight Radar, the flight took off from Mumbai at 8.10 am and it disappeared from radar around 8.45 am.
According to an official release from the Aviation Ministry, the aircraft initially executed a go-around after the pilot informed that the runway was not in sight. The aircraft crashed during the second attempt at landing after the pilot confirmed that the runway was visible, but failed to give a readback of landing clearance.
The release noted that the Baramati airport is an "uncontrolled airfield" where flight traffic information is handled by pilots or instructors from the local flying schools.
Citing an ATC official, the release narrated the sequence of events as follows:
The aircraft --a Learjet 45 XR, registered as VI-SSK and operated by Delhi-based VSR Ventures-- first established contact with the Baramati airport at 8:18 am on Wednesday, minutes after it left Mumbai at 8.10 am.
The next call was at 30 nautical miles from the Baramati airport, when the aircraft was handed over to the local air traffic controller by Pune and the pilot was advised to descend in Visual Meteorological conditions at their discretion.
The crew enquired about the winds and visibility, to which the ATC responded that the winds were calm and visibility was around 3000 mts.
Next, the aircraft reported its final approach to Runway 11. However, immediately after the pilot reported that the runway was not visible, following which they initiated a go-around.
After the go-around, the aircraft was again asked about its position, to which the pilot responded on final approach to Runway 11.
"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 release said.
The aircraft was subsequently cleared for landing at 8:43 am, however the pilot did not give a readback of the landing clearance.
Seconds later, at 8:44 am, the ATC saw flames around the threshold of Runway 11, and emergency services were rushed to the site.
"The wreckage of the aircraft is located on the left side of the runway abeam threshold R/W 11," the statement said.
Naidu said more details regarding the incident is being sought and the probe will be carried out in a transparent manner.
