Another Bombardier Learjet 45, the model that crashed in Baramati, killing Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and four others on Wednesday, had crash-landed in Mumbai in September 2023 and a government probe into that accident is yet to be completed.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is still dissecting the circumstances under which the Learjet 45 aircraft skidded off the runway while landing at Mumbai airport on September 14, 2023, and suffered severe damage, with its fuselage splitting open and the wings broken.
It was a non-scheduled passenger flight that had taken off from Visakhapatnam with six passengers on board and two pilots. All occupants had survived the accident.
The US-based Learjet, a manufacturer of business jets for civilian and military use, had first unveiled the Learjet 23 in 1964. Bombardier acquired the company in the 1990s and continued its production under the Bombardier Learjet series.
Learjet 45 was produced by the Learjet division of Bombardier Aerospace.
The Canada-based Bombardier had in February 2021 discontinued the manufacturing of Learjet and decided to focus on its most profitable models, the Challenger and the Global.
Both Learjet 45s that were involved in accidents were operated by VSR Ventures.
Delhi-based VSR Ventures provides jets to corporate travellers and flyers who need to travel to remote locations not serviced by commercial airlines. The company has been operating non-scheduled flights for a decade and is managed by former pilot V.K. Singh and his son Rohit Singh.
V.K. Singh said the plane was fit to fly and praised Captain Sumit Kapoor and co-pilot Captain Shambhavi Pathak. He said Kapoor had previously flown planes for Sahara and Jet Airways and was an expert at flying the Learjet aircraft.
On Wednesday, officials from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) visited the office of VSR Ventures and conducted an inquiry for around three hours.
According to the DGCA, VSR Ventures has 17 aircraft in its fleet, including seven Learjet 45s, five Embraer 135 BJs, four King Air B200s and a Pilatus PC-12.
The aircraft carrying Pawar was manufactured in 2010. The certificate of airworthiness was issued to it on December 16, 2021. The certificate of registration was issued on December 27, 2022. The airworthiness review certificate was issued on September 10, 2025, and was valid until September 14, 2026.
The aviation watchdog had carried out a regulatory audit of the company in February last year and did not find any problems.
The chartered aircraft carrying Pawar crashed barely 200 metres from the edge of a tabletop runway in Baramati. The pilot had trouble locating the runway amid poor visibility.
Tabletop runways are common in airports constructed on hilly or elevated terrains with one or both ends of the runway overlooking a drop, which makes it difficult for pilots to land their aircraft.
Airports in Kozhikode, Mangalore, Shimla, Kullu and Pakyong have tabletop runways.
Twenty-one people were killed and several injured when an Air India Express flight overshot the tabletop runway in Kozhikode on August 7, 2020.
Another Air India Express flight overshot the runway at Mangalore airport on May 20, 2010, leaving 158 people dead.
