Ajit Pawar plane crash: DGCA grounds four aircraft of VSR after Baramati crash audit over safety lapses

THe board of directors superior general of civic air power (DGCA) on tues grounded four aircraft operated by VSR Ventures Pvt Ltd due to multiple violations discovered in a special safety audit conducted after the fatal Learjet 45 crash in Baramati on January 28 in which NCP leader Ajit Pawar was killed, officials aware of the matter said.“The audit was ordered on February 2. It commenced on February 4 and was completed by February 16 after which the findings were analysed before a final decision was taken,” an official in the know of the development said.The audit team was led by RK Anand, Deputy Director General, and included Pathik Vaghela, Deputy Director (Air Safety); Sushil Malik, Deputy Director (Airworthiness); and Siva Kumar Jadala, Assistant Director (Air Safety). The team also had Capt. Apoorva Agarwal as senior flight operations inspector, SFOI (A) and Captain Lokesh Rampal as flight operations inspector (FOI). The audit was conducted after the crash of the company’s Learjet 45 aircraft registered as VT-SSK killed five people, including the former deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar. The jet was making a second attempt to land at the uncontrolled airport when it crashed.“A multi-disciplinary team found several non-compliances in approved procedures related to airworthiness, flight operations, and safety,” a second official said, adding that the decision to ground the four aircraft was taken in view of the non-compliances observed and considering the gaps in maintenance procedures.“Learjet 40/45 aircraft with registration VT-VRA, VT-VRS, VT-VRV and VT-TRI have been immediately grounded till continued airworthiness standards are restored,” the officer said.DGCA has also issued deficiency reporting forms to the operator, asking it to submit a root cause analysis of the lapses identified during the audit.“Deficiency reporting forms have been issued to VSR Ventures Pvt Ltd to submit root cause analysis on the non-compliances for further assessment by DGCA,” the second official said.The move comes as part of increased scrutiny of charter operators following recent accidents, particularly after the Baramati crash with DGCA focusing on maintenance practices and compliance with safety procedures. It is currently conducting phase wise audits on all non scheduled operators in the countryAccording to records reviewed by HT, the jet, VT-SSK, was actively flying since at least the last week of December, operating charters to Mumbai, Goa (Mopa), Mangaluru, Delhi, Kolhapur, Nagpur, Pune, Surat and Juhu airport in Mumbai.