The black box of the Bombardier Learjet 45 that crashed in Baramati, killing Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and four others on Wednesday, has been recovered, the civil aviation ministry said on Thursday.
The black box records flight information and is expected to shed light on what caused the crash. The device records and stores data such as aircraft parameters, pilot and co-pilot conversations, radio communications and ambient cockpit noise.
“The investigation is progressing expeditiously, and the black box of the ill-fated aircraft has been recovered,” the ministry said.
The Learjet 45 was owned by the Delhi-based VSR Ventures.
The director-general of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, G.V.G. Yugandhar, and three other officers of the AAIB investigated the crash site along with three officers from aviation watchdog DGCA’s Mumbai regional office on Wednesday.
The ministry said it would ensure a thorough, transparent and time-bound inquiry. It said it “remains fully committed to completing the investigation within a defined timeframe, strictly in accordance with established standard operating procedures and laid-down guidelines”.
Civil aviation minister K. Rammohan Naidu has sought the Maharashtra government’s cooperation in a letter to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Alarm on safety
In the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, CPM member John Brittas said the civil aviation sector was in the doldrums, with safety standards plummeting and an airline duopoly fleecing passengers.
He underlined that another Learjet of VSR Ventures had met with an incident
in 2023.
“After two-and-a-half years of the incident, the investigation report has not come. What has happened to the (Air India) Ahmedabad crash? We don’t know what the actual reason of the crash is,” Brittas said in Parliament, demanding the government look into these issues.
A parliamentary standing committee had last year warned of safety gaps at newly operational aerodromes and cautioned against optimising the use of unserved and underserved airfields during efforts to rapidly increase regional connectivity.
The committee said aerodromes often lacked robust infrastructure, experienced technical manpower or advanced emergency response capabilities.
Baramati has an “uncontrolled airfield” where traffic information is provided by instructors and pilots from flying schools. An uncontrolled airfield lacks an air traffic tower or a proper instrument-landing system to guide aircraft during low visibility.
