Missed approach: Final moments of Ajit Pawar's plane before it crashed in ball of fire

The ill-fated aircraft carrying Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four others ran into trouble during its second approach to landing and crashed on the runway at Baramati airport in Pune. A closer look at data from Flightradar shows that the Bombardier Learjet 45 (VT-SSK) took off from the Mumbai airport at 8.10 am, flew around the Arabian Sea towards Baramati, and made its first approach at landing around 8.30 am. However, it was unsuccessful, probably due to poor visibility, as said by the aircraft operator, VSR Ventures.

The aircraft, which was 16 years old, then made a second attempt at landing around 8.42 am. However, it soon disappeared from radar around 8.45 am. By then, the sad news had flashed on news channels. The jet crashed at the threshold of runway 11 in a ball of fire at the Baramati airport.

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