Two Delhi-based pilots, Pawar’s security officer among deceased

THe skim break up in Baramati that claimed the lifespan of Maharashtra surrogate chief government minister Ajit Pawar also killed two Delhi-based pilots, a flight attendant and a police head constable serving as his personal security officer (PSO), officials said on Wednesday.The Learjet 45 aircraft –– operated by Delhi-based VSR Ventures Pvt. Ltd and registered as VT-SSK –– with five people onboard crashed during a second landing attempt on Wednesday morning.The plane was flown by Sumit Kapur (62) from Delhi’s Rajouri Garden and co-pilot Shambhavi Pathak (25) from Safdarjung Enclave .Kapur, who had more than four decades of flying experience, is survived by his wife Cheena, and their son Shiv and daughter Sanya. “Sumit was extremely passionate about flying,” the family’s neighbour said on anonymity. “He flew several politicians and celebrities in the last two years... He was very experienced and did not have any airs about flying famous people.”Shock hung over the home of Pathak in Safdarjung Enclave, where the family had moved in only three days ago. “The mother has locked herself in a room. Her father retired from the Indian Air Force. He left for Pune in the morning after getting to know about the incident,” said PP Singh, a member of the colony’s RWA.According to her LinkedIn profile, Pathak was a trained commercial pilot with experience in operating business jets. She was working as a First Officer with VSR Ventures Pvt. Ltd, where she had been employed since August 2022.In Mumbai’s Prabhadevi, the family of flight attendant Pinky Mali (29) is struggling to come to terms with her death. “Our world collapsed when we heard the news,” her father Shivkumar Mali said. Her parents and two siblings first heard about the fatal crash on the TV at 10.30am –– around two hours after the crash in Baramati.Mali last spoke to her parents on Tuesday night when she said that she would be going to Baramati with Pawar on Wednesday, and proceed thereafter to Nanded, her father said.“I have been associated with the NCP for over 30 years, and recently she even made me speak to Ajit dada on the phone,” he said. According to the family, this was her fourth trip with Pawar within a week.The family of Vidip Jadhav, a police head constable and Pawar’s PSO, similarly learnt about the crash on the TV.“It was around 9am when we heard loud cries from next door. Only his mother and son were at home then, as his wife Sandhya had gone to her maternal home in Panvel,” said Jadhav’s neighbour Chandrakant Sane in Thane’s Kalwa area. “When we went there, we saw the news of the plane crash on television and realised Vidip was also among the victims. Soon after, local police officers arrived and took his mother and son to Baramati.”Sane said Jadhav’s mother was in disbelief. “She was unable to accept that her only son was no more and kept frantically switching television channels, hoping for some news that he was alive,” he added.