Baramati, Five people, including Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, died in the Baramati plane crash on Wednesday morning, according to the flight details.

Apart from Deputy CM Pawar, the people onboard the plane, Learjet 45 aircraft (registration VT-SSK) operated by VSR, included a personal security officer (PSO), an attendant, and two crew members — a Pilot-in-Command (PIC) and a Second-in-Command (SIC).

The deceased have been identified as Vidip Jadhav (male), Pinky Mali (female). Additionally, the crew members were PIC Sumit Kapur and SIC Shambhavi Pathak, according to the passenger list.

Amid ongoing elections to the Zilla Parishads and Panchayat Samitis, Dy CM Ajit Pawar was travelling from Mumbai to Baramati to attend a public meeting.

Emergency services and senior security officials have reached the site in Baramati. Rescue teams were deployed immediately after the aircraft lost control during the landing phase.

Three bodies were rushed to the Baramati Medical College. The identification of the bodies is underway, as per the Pune Superintendent of Police (SP).

A team of DGCA officials has arrived at the plane crash site.

This incident comes after several aviation-related scares for the leader. In October 2024, a helicopter intended to pick up his party colleague Sunil Tatkare crashed in Pune, and there have been previous instances of emergency landings in the region due to bad weather.

According to information received, Ajit Pawar left Mumbai for Baramati this morning by plane for a public meeting. He frequently travelled in a small aircraft, and today was no different. Reports indicate the crash happened while landing in Baramati, with the plane coming down in a field.

An eyewitness near Baramati airport said the ill-fated aircraft carrying Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar appeared “a bit unstable in the air” and exploded the moment it crashed on the ground.

Speaking to a Marathi news channel, the woman said she noticed the aircraft early in the morning as it circled the airport. “It took a round in the air, and as it was approaching the runway to land, it hit the ground hard and exploded. The sound was huge and could be heard at our home,” she said. She said several parts of the aircraft were hurled into the air after the explosion, and some fell near her house. “The plane tilted before coming down. We saw the explosion, and it was frightening,” she added.

Another eyewitness said the aircraft appeared to be losing control as it descended. “The way the plane was coming down, we felt it was going to crash. It was around 100 feet above the runway. As we rushed towards it, we saw flames, followed by four to five consecutive blasts, which prevented us from going anywhere near the aircraft,” he said. “It was a major fire. We later learned that Pawar was on the aircraft. It was shocking for us,” he added.