‘Oh s***’: Crew’s final words before Ajit Pawar’s jet went down in Baramati

The final words from the cockpit were a startled expletive.

Moments before a Learjet 45 slammed into the ground near Baramati on January 28 morning, killing five people including Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, the two pilots were heard exclaiming, “Oh s***,” according to a senior official of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) familiar with the investigation.

The aircraft went down during its second attempt to land at Baramati’s table-top airstrip around 8:45 am, crashing short of the runway threshold but within the airstrip perimeter, officials said.

The crash claimed the lives of 66-year-old Ajit Pawar, his personal security officer, his attendant, and the two cockpit crew—pilot-in-command Sumit Kapur, who had logged more than 15,000 flying hours, and first officer Shambhavi Pathak, with around 1,500 hours of experience. The Delhi-based charter aircraft was operated by VSR Ventures Pvt Ltd.

A senior official privy to the probe confirmed that the brief, stunned exclamation was the last recorded cockpit exchange before impact.

Second approach, then disaster

According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), the aircraft—registered VT-SSK—established contact with Baramati airport at 8:18 am. The crew was briefed on prevailing weather conditions and told they could land at their discretion.

The pilots sought details on wind and visibility and were informed that visibility was approximately 3,000 metres, considered adequate for landing.

During the first final approach to Runway 11, the pilot reported that the runway was “not in sight” and was instructed to execute a go-around, a standard safety procedure. After repositioning, the crew reported being on final approach again.

At 8:43 am, air traffic control cleared the aircraft to land after reconfirming visibility. However, officials said no readback of the landing clearance—a critical procedural step—was recorded.

Just a minute later, at 8:44 am, air traffic controllers observed flames near the threshold of Runway 11.

Cadet-run ground control, black box recovered

Investigators noted that ground control operations at Baramati are handled by pilot cadets from two private aviation academies—Redbird Aviation and Carver Aviation—who served as the crew’s primary point of contact.

The cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder have since been recovered, MoCA confirmed on January 29. A team from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) visited the crash site on January 28 evening to begin a detailed forensic reconstruction of the aircraft’s final moments.

State in mourning

The funeral of Ajit Pawar is being held on January 29, with senior political leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah and NCP patriarch Sharad Pawar, in attendance. The Maharashtra government has announced three days of state mourning for the veteran leader, widely known as ‘Dada’.

As investigators pore over the black box data, the chilling two-word exclamation from the cockpit has come to symbolise the suddenness of the tragedy—and the unanswered questions surrounding the final seconds of a flight that never made it to the runway.