Both flight recorders or the so-called black boxes of the ill-fated Learjet 45 aircraft that crashed on January 28 in Baramati, claiming the lives of then Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four others, sustained fire damage and while data from one of the recorders has been downloaded successfully, foreign technical assistance has been sought for data retrieval from the other units, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) said Tuesday.
The update on the crash investigation comes amid Ajit Pawar’s nephew and Nationalist Congress Party (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar’s allegations of the possibility of a conspiracy and sabotage in the crash. In its statement on Tuesday, the AAIB said that it is following all technical and procedural protocols and is fully committed to transparency, and requested that speculation about the crash and its investigation be avoided.
“Both recorders were exposed to intense heat for a prolonged period during the accident and sustained fire damage. The Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR), manufactured by L3-Communications, has been successfully downloaded at the AAIB Flight Recorder Laboratory. The Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR), manufactured by Honeywell, is undergoing detailed technical examination. Assistance has been sought from the Accredited Representative of the State of Manufacture for specialised support in data retrieval,” the AAIB said.
Typically, the US is listed as the primary state of manufacture for Honeywell flight recorders, and the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) often serves as the accredited representative for the state of manufacture for official investigation and regulatory purposes. Flight data and cockpit voice recordings are critical in air crash investigations as they provide crucial aircraft performance data and insights into possible technical and human factors, thereby helping investigators piece together an accurate sequence of events before the accident.
“The AAIB is diligently following all prescribed technical and procedural protocols to ensure a comprehensive, objective and evidence-based investigation. The Bureau remains fully committed to transparency and will share further information at the appropriate stage of the investigation. The AAIB respectfully requests all stakeholders to avoid speculation and allow the investigation process to proceed in accordance with established procedures.
On Monday, Rohit Pawar had posted on social media platform X that the preliminary probe report on the crash had not been released even after 20 days since the accident, and no action had been taken against charter flight operator VSR Ventures, due to which suspicions were “growing stronger”. Earlier, Rohit Pawar had demanded that an independent international agency such as the NTSB, France’s Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety, or the UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch be asked to investigate the crash. As per India’s aircraft investigation rules, aircraft accidents and serious incidents are probed by the AAIB.
Rohit Pawar has also been levelling allegations of negligence, regulatory failures, and operational and crew irregularities against Delhi-based VSR Ventures, the operator of the doomed aircraft. A special audit of VSR Ventures is already under way by a six-member team appointed by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The DGCA is also undertaking audits of all non-scheduled aircraft operators in the country in two phases in the wake of the January 28 crash.
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On Friday, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu had said that the preliminary probe report on the Learjet 45 crash was expected to be released “very soon”.
The aircraft involved in the January 28 accident was a 15-year-old Learjet 45—a mid-sized business jet—bearing registration VT-SSK. It took off from the Mumbai airport at around 8:10 am and disappeared from the radar at about 8:45 am, as per the flight tracking data. According to preliminary information provided by the government, the plane crashed at around 8:44 am. The flight path shows the aircraft making a loop to line up with the runway as it prepared to land at the Baramati airport, before crashing close to the runway. Along with Ajit Pawar, there were four others on board the aircraft—a personal security officer, one flight attendant, and two pilots.
According to guidelines from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), investigators should release a preliminary report within 30 days of an air accident, although Indian aviation experts say that the country’s aircraft accident investigation rules have no such mandate and India is not bound to stick to the 30-day timeline for the preliminary report. Nevertheless, the initial report is expected soon, given the significance of the accident, according to sources.
It is, however, not clear how detailed the preliminary report itself would be at this stage. AAIB’s preliminary reports in the past have mostly been limited to laying down the facts about the aircraft and crew, establishing the series of events leading to the accident, providing some basic analysis of the aircraft accident debris and site, and listing the steps taken so far in the investigation. In most cases, they are largely inconclusive, and limited to establishing the facts about the accident and the progress of the probe. Final investigation reports usually take up to a year, and at times even more.
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Initial information from the crash site indicated that low visibility conditions in the area might have played a role in the accident. On the day of the crash, VSR’s Director Vijay Kumar Singh also said that it appeared that the pilots faced visibility issues.
The Baramati airport is a regional airstrip used primarily for pilot training and private plane operations, and does not have navigational aids to help pilots operate during low visibility. They are required to land by visually navigating to the airport in the absence of navigational aids, which can be challenging if visibility is poor. Also, Baramati is an uncontrolled airfield, which means that pilots operate there visually by avoiding other aircraft and maintaining self-separation, and use radio communication to operate at such airports. At the Baramati airport, traffic information is provided by the instructors or pilots from the flying schools there.