New theories emerge in Ajit Pawar plane crash probe

Ajit Pawar, the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, and four other people, including his personal security officer Vidhit Jadhav, pilot-in-command Sumit Kapur, first officer Shambhavi Pathak, and cabin crew member Pinky Mali, boarded the tragic VT-SSK Learjet 45 business jet on Wednesday morning to travel to Baramati. The plane crashed during landing, killing all of them. While the ministry of civil aviation has initiated an investigation into the incident and recovered the aircraft’s black box to determine what caused the catastrophe, a number of videos and witness reports of the crash have surfaced, providing a glimpse into various aspects of the plane crash and igniting a number of theories about it.

The crash has set in motion a political whirlwind in Maharashtra, with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) scrambling for a new leader and a potential replacement for Ajit Pawar, one of the key figures in Maharashtra politics who was also lovingly known as ‘Dada’ among his supporters and party workers. In addition to Pawar, the families and hometowns of individuals who were on the flight are grieving and getting over the tragedy.

The final moments of the VT-SSK Learjet 45 aircraft that Ajit Pawar was flying in were documented in a recently released video of the tragedy. In the footage, a massive explosion that produces a fireball and dense smoke clouds is followed by the plane twisting sideways in midair as it falls to the ground. The footage appears to show the aircraft’s left wing falling quickly, just before impact, and also inspired three significant theories by specialists regarding what could have gone wrong.

An aerodynamic stall, a hard banking too near to the ground, or an engine failure are the three plausible explanations for what actually caused the crash, according to experts based on the video’s visuals, as previously reported by Hindustan Times. When an airplane loses altitude when its speed, angle, or both are such that its wings cease to produce lift, this is known as an aerodynamic stall.

According to Mark D. Martin of Martin Consulting, an aviation advice firm, the second scenario is engine failure. “The Learjet 45 is a very fast aircraft and it is not designed to fly well at low speeds, especially during landing. From what I have seen, it appears that the aircraft suffered an engine failure while coming into land. When one engine fails, the power from the other engine can pull the aircraft to one side.”

The third possible explanation, according to an expert who spoke on condition of anonymity is that “it appears to be a late viewing of the runway and trying to get to it with a large bank angle.” However, it must be noted that the exact cause will only be ascertained after a thorough probe.