Mumbai, Jan 29 : Union Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu on Thursday sought the Maharashtra government’s cooperation for expeditious conduct of probe into the plane crash which killed Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four others at the Baramati airport in Pune district.
In a letter to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis a day after the tragedy, he sought the government’s support for accessing the crash site, local administrative assistance and coordination with ground agencies, among other steps.
Key outcomes of the investigation will be shared with the state government, he said in the missive.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), which functions under the Civil Aviation Ministry, has initiated a formal investigation into the aircraft crash.
Pawar (66), who had taken off from Mumbai, and four other persons on board a private aircraft were killed after it crashed barely 200 metres from the edge of the tabletop airstrip at Baramati, his hometown, on Wednesday morning.
The others killed in the tragedy were Captain Sumit Kapoor, who had a flying experience of 15,000 hours, co-pilot Capt Shambhavi Pathak, with 1,500 hours of flying experience, Pawar’s Personal Security Officer Vidip Jadhav and flight attendant Pinky Mali
Earlier, Fadnavis had urged the Union minister to order a detailed inquiry to find out the exact cause of the crash and also requested for immediate steps to prevent such accidents in the future.
Naidu said his ministry has taken note of the Chief Minister’s request to implement measures to prevent recurrence of such incidents.
Based on the investigation’s findings, necessary safety recommendations and regulatory or operational measures will be implemented in coordination with the AAIB, DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) and other stakeholders, he assured.
