Aviation authorities and industry experts are confronting difficult questions about safety standards after the chartered Learjet carrying Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four others crashed while attempting to land at Baramati Airport, sharply focusing attention on whether the aircraft might have avoided disaster if it had been equipped with a satellite-based precision approach system just weeks earlier than it was certified to install. The tragedy on 28 January killed Pawar, his personal security officer, a flight attendant, and both crew members as the business jet veered off the runway threshold and erupted in flames, prompting a full forensic investigation by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau. Preliminary scrutiny of the accident has underscored a regulatory nuance: the 16-year-old Learjet 45XR, registered VT-SSK and operated by private charter firm VSR Aviation, was compliant with existing mandates at the time of its registration but fell just short of a deadline for fitting the Government-approved GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation satellite-based landing guidance system by 28 days. That system is designed to enhance pilot navigation under low visibility conditions and is considered a crucial advance in approach safety at smaller airports without full Instrument Landing Systems.
Officials from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation have confirmed that Baramati’s airfield lacked a ground-based instrument landing system, meaning the crew relied on visual flight rules for approach. According to DGCA statements, the crew aborted an initial landing attempt after failing to sight the runway, made a second approach approved by Baramati air traffic advisories and then lost contact in the moments before impact. No mayday call was recorded.
Industry analysts point out that Baramati is classified as an uncontrolled field, where flying training organisations provide traffic advisories rather than full air traffic control services. This can pose added challenges for precision approaches, especially for executive jets operating on charter flights with tight schedules. The lack of ground-based or satellite-augmented guidance in such settings makes pilots dependent on visual cues, raising risk in marginal visibility.
At Asia’s largest aviation event, Wings India 2026 in Hyderabad, delegates pivoted discussions towards systemic gaps highlighted by the crash, arguing that a broader safety upgrade across the non-scheduled operator segment was overdue. With nearly 150 airports in the country operating with incomplete navigational aid infrastructure, experts called for accelerated rollout of both satellite and ground-based landing systems to minimise reliance on visual approaches in challenging conditions.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Civil Aviation had previously cautioned that the sector’s rapid expansion, particularly among private and charter aircraft operators, demanded a proportionate strengthening of safety oversight, documentation discipline and operational controls. The panel’s report, tabled last year, argued for universal adoption of robust safety management systems across all non-scheduled operators to match standards typically observed in major commercial carriers.
VSR Aviation, which operates a fleet of business jets including multiple Learjet 45s and other light aircraft, maintains that its aircraft were airworthy and compliant with regulatory requirements at the time of departure from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai. Company representatives dismissed the notion of a technical defect, instead pointing to the visibility conditions at Baramati as a probable factor in the crash sequence.
Pilots and safety specialists underline that while modern business jets like the Learjet 45 are widely regarded as reliable, the absence of precision approach aids can significantly raise pilot workload during critical phases of flight. With visibility reported at around 3,000–3,500 metres that morning and no formal instrument landing system at the airstrip, the crew’s situational assessment would have been heavily dependent on line-of-sight runway identification.
The tragedy has triggered broader examination of whether the regulatory timeline for implementing satellite-based systems should be revisited and accelerated, especially for aircraft operating in regions with unpredictable weather conditions and limited airport infrastructure. Safety advocates argue that a more proactive retrofit policy could prevent similar losses by ensuring that ageing but actively used business jets benefit from the latest navigational technologies.