The Learjet aircraft crash near the Baramati airport in Maharashtra’s Pune district that killed Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar along with four others has stunned the nation, with questions being raised over safety and security of aircraft operating on India’s skyline. Pawar was travelling from Mumbai to the Pune district, where he was scheduled to address four rallies in connection with the February 5 zilla parishad elections. CCTV footage captured a massive fireball as the plane crashed near the threshold of the runway on its second attempt to land.
While preliminary reports from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) indicate that poor visibility and technical difficulties during the final approach contributed to the crash, the exact cause remains to be ascertained. Dense fog covered the Pune–Baramati region in the morning, reducing visibility to extremely low levels, prompting a second attempt at landing. In the absence of an Instrument Landing System at the airport, the pilot had to rely entirely on manual and visual landing. Add to this the disadvantage of Baramati having a tabletop runway, which left almost no margin for error.
The Learjet aircraft that crashed was led by veteran Captain Sumit Kapur, who had over 16,000 flying hours to his credit, having previously worked with Sahara and Jet Airways. He had Captain Shambhavi Pathak as a co-pilot with nearly 1,500 hours of flying experience.
While questions are being asked, it becomes imperative to ponder over the underlying problems that aircraft have been facing and the frequency of air disasters. On June 12 last year, a Dreamliner bound for Gatwick-London, crashed after taking off from Ahmedabad, killing 260 people. Subsequent investigations revealed that the fuel control switches were moved to the “Cutoff” position. On August 7, 2020, 21 people died after an Air India Express flight overshot the “table-top” runway and fell into a gorge at Kozhikode in Kerala. According to data, there have been over 53 crashes between 2021 and 2025, involving training jets, small aircraft and chartered helicopters.
The question that baffles is, what’s going wrong? This crash is another grim reminder of the inherent risk associated with air travel. Despite technological advancements and rigorous safety protocols, aircraft accidents still occur, often with devastating consequences. Aircraft safety is a multifaceted issue — from infrastructural challenges to outdated carriers. Some of the airports, especially in remote areas, are still grappling with runway limitations, outdated navigation systems, and insufficient air traffic control facilities.
Secondly, older models of aircrafts continue to be operational. For example, the Indian Air Force retired the iconic MiG-21 jet only in 2025, after 62 years of service. Due to the high rate of crashes, it was labelled as the “flying coffin”. The Russians discontinued it in 1985. The ageing Jaguar fleet has been red-flagged, and the Learjet crash sparked debates over the safety of smaller jets. Safety audits of DGCA has pointed out several violations across major carriers.
Regardless of the specifics, such incidents underscore the importance of continually enhancing aircraft safety standards. Recurring air disasters reflect poorly on our aviation systems and protocols and call for continuous attention and upgrades. There is no denying that the government has taken giant steps in the aviation sector, including bringing about tighter regulations. However, air traffic volume and frequencies have shot up drastically in the past few years, posing newer challenges.
Such accidents shatter public confidence in the sector, and hence, there is a need to get to the bottom of this incident and carry out a rigorous and transparent investigation. There is no room for error in aviation.
