Global & US Headlines
Fog, Pressure & No ILS: Learjet Crash Kills Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar
On 28 Jan 2026 Ajit Pawar’s Learjet 45 slammed short of Baramati’s Runway 11 during a second approach in marginal visibility, killing all five aboard and triggering an AAIB probe into VIP-flight safety at India’s non-instrumented airstrips.
Focusing Facts
- The jet aborted an initial approach at 08:41 IST, was cleared to land at 08:43 but crashed in flames at 08:44, 150 km short of its origin in Mumbai.
- Baramati airfield lacked an Instrument Landing System; after the crash the Indian Air Force rushed a mobile ATC/comm unit from Pune on the state government’s request.
- Operator VSR Ventures’ Learjet fleet was already under AAIB scrutiny after a 2023 Mumbai runway excursion and 2025 US-NTSB alerts on landing-gear defects.
Context
History rhymes: in 2010 Poland’s President died when a Tu-154 pressed on to fog-bound Smolensk without adequate aids; in 1996 India lost Chief Minister Y.S. Rajashekhara Reddy in a Bell-430 that flew into bad weather. Both accidents, like Baramati, mixed VIP schedule pressure with marginal meteorology at under-equipped fields. The trend is clear: commercial aviation drives its fatality rate steadily downward (0.23 per million flights in 2023), but the niche of chartered VIP and business jets operating into small airports has lagged, where protocol routinely bends to prestige and political urgency. India’s explosive growth of regional airstrips—most still “uncontrolled”—magnifies this gap. Whether this crash spurs mandatory ILS or SBAS-guided approaches, or legal shields letting pilots refuse unsafe VIP demands, will shape a safety culture that could echo for decades. If not, future historians may note Pawar’s death as yet another ignored warning on the century-long march from heroic to system-centric aviation.
Perspectives
Independent opinion columnists and general news features
e.g., DNA India — They frame the crash as a consequence of VIP hubris, arguing that prestige-driven choices overrode basic aviation prudence and cost lives. The column’s moralistic tone may sensationalise political culpability to capture readers’ outrage while downplaying technical or infrastructural factors that are less headline-friendly. ( Daily News and Analysis (DNA) India )
Business and industry-oriented outlets quoting the operator
e.g., Economic Times, The Siasat Daily — They stress that the aircraft was well-maintained and flown by a highly experienced crew, portraying the crash as an unfortunate outcome of poor visibility and a routine ‘missed approach’. By amplifying the company owner’s narrative, these reports can serve to shield the operator from early blame and protect commercial reputations, potentially underplaying past safety flags or systemic oversight failures.
Technical/aviation expert coverage
e.g., Rediff.com, Devdiscourse — Experts highlight the lack of an Instrument Landing System at Baramati and other technical shortfalls, arguing the tragedy might have been averted with better airport navigation aids. Focusing on hardware fixes can divert scrutiny from human decision-making or regulatory enforcement, implicitly advocating for capital-intensive upgrades that aviation consultancies and equipment suppliers benefit from.