Ajit Pawar plane crash: Rohit Pawar claims factual errors in AAIB’s preliminary report, suspects cover up

NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar has continued his assail on VSR Ventures and the board of directors superior general of civic air power (DGCA) over the plane crash that claimed the life of former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar. On Wednesday, he alleged discrepancies in the preliminary report released by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), questioning its intent and credibility. Rohit claimed that although there are no trees in the vicinity of Baramati airport, the report stated that the aircraft had collided with trees.He displayed photographs of the aircraft’s black box, allegedly from the crashed plane, asserting that it appeared undamaged. According to him, DGCA deputy director Ramachandran had signed a document at the Baramati police station stating that the black box was intact. He said that the same DGCA is now claiming that the black box sustained damage, suspecting cover-ups and attempts to manipulate the probe to protect VSR Ventures and interests of influential individuals who have invested in the charter operating firm.Also Read: DGCA action grounding 4 VSR planes a sham, efforts on to shield firm: Rohit PawarTo corroborate the claim, Rohit pointed out that the aircraft’s black box had been replaced in 2021, suggesting it was equipped with the latest technology. He questioned whether DGCA officials were attempting to shield VSR Ventures from scrutiny by tempering the evidence. Suspecting a pre-planned conspiracy, he alleged that the locals reported a recce of the Baramati airport by a few individuals before the plane crash and that needs to be probed by the investigation agencies.“The AAIB report said that the aircraft collided with trees but there were no trees in the vicinity except some bushes that are far from the accident spot. The aircraft didn’t even touch them. The observation made by them is completely wrong,” he remarked. “The report claims the plane banked to the right, but the footage clearly shows it tilting to the left. If they can’t even get the direction of the fall right, how can we trust the rest of the report”, he asked.The preliminary report of the AAIB was released on February 28, a month after Learjet 45 aircraft owned by VSR Ventures crashed in Baramati on January 28, which killed all the five individuals on board.Also Read: In the aftermath of Ajit Pawar's death, the rise of Rohit Pawar decodedDGCA has already said that both components of the aircraft’s black box — the flight data recorder (FDR), and cockpit voice recorder (CVR) — sustained heat damage after the crash. The claim was contested by Rohit, who is also Ajit Pawar’s nephew, and said that they were expecting pictures of black box along with the preliminary report of AAIB but it did not happen.He claimed that black boxes from aircraft involved in crash accidents were found unhurt by referring to the Ahmedabad plane crash, Tejas plane crash in Dubai and crash of another Learjet plane in the United States (US). “Moreover, DGCA deputy director Ramachandran also signed a document at the Baramai police station that states that black box is safe,” Rohit asserted, displaying pictures of the black box purportedly from Ajit Pawar’s plane crash. “From these images I am unable to make out if the black box was really damaged,” he added.Rohit then revealed that the black box claimed to have been damaged was replaced only in May 2021. “It means it was manufactured with the latest technology even though the aircraft was as old as 16 years so there is no possibility that it is going to be damaged like this,” he emphasized.Also Read: Ajit Pawar plane crash: DGCA grounds four aircraft of VSR after Baramati crash audit over safety lapses“In this case, the other possibility is that they may not have replaced the old black box, which if revealed will bring DGCA officials in trouble, thus they are claiming that the black box has sustained damage and the AAIB report was manipulated,” he accused.This can be proved by comparing numbers of old and the new models with the manufacturing company — Honeywell.He further said that the report appeared to validate several of his earlier claims, including the allegation that the aircraft had exceeded its permitted usage by 3,000 flying hours, low visibility in Baramati, excess fuel refilled in the aircraft, Ajit Pawar’s travel was not scheduled for that day, among others.