4 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Feb 25, 2026 01:32 AM IST
Aviation safety regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday announced the immediate grounding of four aircraft operated by VSR Ventures, the charter flight operator whose Learjet 45 crashed in Maharashtra’s Baramati on January 28, killing the then Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and four others. The action by the regulator follows a special audit of VSR Ventures that was initiated after the fatal accident; the audit revealed various non-compliances by VSR Ventures.
“The multi-disciplinary audit team observed several non-compliances of approved procedures in the organisation in the area of airworthiness, air safety, and flight operations. In view of the non-compliances observed and considering the gaps in maintenance procedures it is decided to initiate the corrective measures by immediately grounding Learjet 40/45 aircraft with registration VT-VRA, VT-VRS, VT-VRV, and VT-TRI till continued airworthiness standards are restored,” the DGCA said in a statement.
According to the DGCA database, VSR had a fleet of 17 aircraft, including the one that crashed in Baramati. Of these 17 planes, eight were Learjets–mid-sized business jets manufactured by Canada’s Bombardier Aerospace, with around 640 such planes built during its manufacturing run between 1995 and 2012.
“Deficiency reporting forms have been issued to M/s VSR Ventures Pvt Ltd in above mentioned areas to submit root cause analysis on the non-compliances for further assessment by the DGCA,” the regulator added. It did not detail the non-compliances that were observed in the special operator’s special audit.
Ajit Pawar’s nephew and Nationalist Congress Party (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar has alleged of the possibility of a conspiracy and sabotage in the crash. He has also been levelling allegations of negligence, regulatory failures, and operational and crew irregularities against VSR Ventures.
Notably, another Learjet 45 of VSR Ventures had crash landed at Mumbai airport in 2023. Investigation into that accident is ongoing, with the final probe report expected soon. Following the Baramati crash, the DGCA had launched a special audit of the Delhi-based VSR Ventures.
The aircraft involved in the January 28 accident was a 15-year-old Learjet 45—a mid-sized business jet—bearing registration VT-SSK. It took off from the Mumbai airport at around 8:10 am and disappeared from the radar at about 8:45 am, as per the flight tracking data. According to preliminary information provided by the government, the plane crashed at around 8:44 am. The flight path shows the aircraft making a loop to line up with the runway as it prepared to land at the Baramati airport, before crashing close to the runway. Along with Ajit Pawar, there were four others on board the aircraft—a personal security officer, one flight attendant, and two pilots.
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Initial information from the crash site in Baramati indicated that low visibility conditions in the area might have played a role in the accident. On the day of the crash, VSR’s Director Vijay Kumar Singh also said that it appeared that the pilots faced visibility issues.
Rohit Pawar has also demanded that an independent international agency such as the NTSB, France’s Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety, or the UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch be asked to investigate the crash. As per India’s aircraft investigation rules, aircraft accidents and serious incidents are probed by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), which is likely to release a preliminary report on the accident later this week.
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