A training aircraft of the Academy of Carver Aviation veered off the runway at Baramati Airport on Sunday during a flying exercise. The trainee pilot and instructor escaped unhurt, and the aircraft sustained minor damage, officials said. This is the second aircraft mishap at Baramati since Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and former Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar’s plane crash in January this year.
According to police, the incident occurred around 12.23 pm when the Cessna 172 aircraft, bearing registration number VT-SEX and being used for flight training, veered off at Baramati airport. The aircraft was carrying pilot Captain Chirag Shashikant Doiphode, 25, and trainee Abhijit Balasaheb Zudre.
Pune rural superintendent of police Sandeep Singh Gill said the aircraft was involved in a runway excursion during a training exercise and no injuries were reported.
“The aircraft initially entered the runway through Link Bravo, lined up at the threshold of runway 29 and carried out a rejected take-off. Thereafter, it was lined up at the threshold of runway 11, where another rejected take-off was carried out. During the exercise, the aircraft could not be brought to a complete stop on the runway and continued beyond the threshold of runway 29. It subsequently veered off the extended paved surface to the right,” Gill said.
Narayan Pawar, senior police inspector at Baramati taluka police station, said the aircraft moved from the Academy of Carver Aviation’s parking area to Taxiway Bravo around 12.09 pm. After receiving clearance from Air Traffic Control around 12.14 pm, it lined up on Runway 29 for the training exercise.
{{/usCountry}}Narayan Pawar, senior police inspector at Baramati taluka police station, said the aircraft moved from the Academy of Carver Aviation’s parking area to Taxiway Bravo around 12.09 pm. After receiving clearance from Air Traffic Control around 12.14 pm, it lined up on Runway 29 for the training exercise.
{{/usCountry}}“As part of an emergency practice exercise, the aircraft landed on the same runway around 12.20 pm. It subsequently took off in the opposite direction towards Runway 11 for another training exercise. While approaching the end of the runway, it veered off the paved surface and came to a stop in a grassy area,” Pawar said.
He said both the instructor and the trainee pilot were unhurt, and the aircraft appeared to have sustained minor damage.
No case had been registered at Baramati Taluka police station as of Sunday evening. Police are conducting further inquiries into the incident.
The incident comes months after two other aircraft accidents in the vicinity of the Baramati airstrip.
In January, a Learjet 45 operated by VSR Ventures crashed while attempting to land at Baramati, killing Pawar and four others. Pawar was travelling with his security officer and an attendant, while the aircraft’s two-member cockpit crew — pilot-in-command Sumit Kapur and first officer Shambhavi Pathak — also died in the crash.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is probing the circumstances surrounding the crash, with its final report expected by January next year. The aircraft was a private charter operated by VSR Ventures and was not connected to flight-training operations at the airstrip.
In another incident in May, a trainer aircraft operated by the Redbird Flight Training Academy crashed near Gojubavi village, close to the airstrip. The incident occurred around 8.50 am on May 13. The trainee pilot, who was the only person on board, escaped safely.
Following that incident, the Redbird Flight Training Academy initiated an internal investigation into the circumstances leading to the crash.