Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and three other persons were killed after an aircraft carrying them crashed while attempting to land at Baramati airport in Pune district on Wednesday morning, officials said.
The chartered aircraft, which was flying from Mumbai to Baramati, crash-landed around 8.45 am while making an emergency landing.
Officials said six people, including Pawar, his security personnel and the pilots, were on board at the time of the accident.
Pawar was heading to Baramati to address four public meetings ahead of the Zilla Parishad elections when the incident occurred.
Visuals from the site showed the mangled remains of the aircraft, with ambulances rushing the injured to nearby hospitals.
Baramati airport manager Shivaji Taware told Hindustan Times, “the aircraft VT SSK was attempting landing and the aircraft went on the side of the runway and explored on crashing.” He said the aircraft was a Lear Jet 45 that had been chartered from Mumbai.
The Baramati airport, which was earlier run by a private operator, was recently handed over to the Maharashtra Airport Development Company.
Further details regarding the crash and casualties were awaited.