‘It tilted & crashed’: Eyewitnesses spot fire, blasts in Ajit Pawar plane crash

Mumbai, Jan 28: The ill-fated aircraft carrying Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar appeared "a bit unstable in the air" and exploded the moment it crashed on the ground near Baramati in Pune district, eyewitness said on Wednesday morning.

A woman witness said she noticed the aircraft in the morning as it circled the Baramati airport.

"It took a round in the air, appeared a bit unstable and as it was approaching the runway to land, it hit the ground hard and exploded. There was a loud sound and could be heard at our home," the woman told a news channel.

She said several parts of the aircraft were hurled into the air after the explosion and fell near her house. "The plane tilted before coming down. We saw the explosion and it was frightening," she said.

Another person who witnessed the incident said that after the crash, the aircraft burst into flames, followed by four to five consecutive blasts.

"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 told reporters.

According to Flight Radar, the flight took off from Mumbai at 8.10 am and it disappeared from radar around 8.45 am. Pawar, 66, and four other persons were killed after their aircraft crashed near Baramati at 8.50 am.

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.

Superintendent of Police, Sandip Singh Gill, said that after the crash, there was a fire. "People onboard were immediately taken to the hospital," he added.

Meanwhile, President Droupadi Murmu condoled the demise of Pawar, saying his untimely death is an irreparable loss.

In a social media post, she said Pawar will always be remembered for his special contribution to the development of Maharashtra, especially in the cooperative sector.

"The news of the death of several people, including Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister Shri Ajit Pawar, in a plane crash in Baramati, Maharashtra, is extremely tragic. The untimely demise of Ajit Pawar ji is an irreparable loss," she said in the post in Hindi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to enquire about the plane crash.

Modi and Union minister Shah later called up Fadnavis and took information about the plane crash, sources said. In a social media post, Modi said Pawar's death was untimely and very shocking. “Ajit Pawar was a leader of the people with a strong grassroots level connect, he said.

PTI