Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and four others were killed after his plane crashed during landing at Baramati airport in Maharashtra on Wednesday morning.
According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), two personnel and two crew members were on board with the NCP leader who was flying from Delhi to Baramati.
The Learjet 45 aircraft was operated by a company called VSR.
Ajit, 66, was the nephew of veteran politician and NCP founder, Sharad Pawar, and the cousin of Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule.
In 2023, Ajit led the mutiny in NCP that split the party into two factions: one led by him and the other by his uncle Sharad. Ajit later joined the NDA government, won the NCP tag from the Election Commission and became deputy chief minister.
Over the years, India has lost several politicians to air accidents. Here is a look back at some prominent names.
Balwantrai Mehta, 1965
The second chief minister of Gujarat, Balwantrai Mehta, was killed when a Pakistani Air Force jet mistakenly shot down his civilian aircraft during the 1965 war. He was on an official visit near the India-Pakistan border.
Sanjay Gandhi, 1980
Congress leader Sanjay Gandhi was flying an aircraft of the Delhi Flying Club when it crashed near Safdarjung Airport in Delhi on December 9, 1980. The incident took place when he was attempting some dangerous manoeuvres.
Madhavrao Scindia, 2001
Senior Congress leader Madhavrao Scindia, a prominent national figure and member of the Gwalior royal family, died on September 30, 2001, after his chartered aircraft crashed at Bhogaon in Mainpuri district of Uttar Pradesh. He was on his way to address a rally in Kanpur. All passengers onboard the aircraft were killed.
GMC Balayog, 2002
On March 3, 2002, the twelfth Speaker of the Lok Sabha, GMC Balayogi, died in a helicopter crash in Kaikalur, Krishna District, Andhra Pradesh. The chopper reportedly developed a mechanical fault mid-air.
OP Jindal and Surender Singh, 2005
Industrialist and Haryana minister Om Prakash Jindal lost his life in a helicopter crash in 2005 along with agriculture minister Surender Singh. Their chopper was en route to Chandigarh from Delhi when it crashed in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur.
YS Reddy, 2009
Then chief minister of Andhra Pradesh Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, popularly known as YSR, died on September 2, 2009, when his Bell 430 helicopter crashed in the dense Nallamala forest due to bad weather.
Dorjee Khandu, 2011
Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Dorjee Khandu and four others were killed on 30 April, 2011, when a helicopter carrying them from Tawang to Itanagar crashed in West Kameng district of the state. The wreckage was found five days later.
Vijay Rupani, 2025
Former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani was among the 241 people killed in the London-bound Air India flight that crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad on June 13, 2025, killing 241 of the 242 people on board.