Minutes after news broke out about the crash of the chartered plane carrying Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar near Baramati airport around 8.45 am, a huge crowd constantly streamed in at the crash site. Till late evening, the crowd kept coming while the police struggled to keep them at bay.
The private chartered plane was on its final descent when it failed to touch down safely, slid from the runaway, hit a rock and exploded. There were five persons on board the plane including Ajit Pawar. There were two crew members–one a pilot in command and first officer. Pawar’s personal security officer and an attendant had accompanied him.
Each one among the surging tried to find out what exactly went wrong with the plane. They tried to bypass the police to reach the crash site. Hundreds of them stayed rooted to the grounds for minutes together, just blankly staring at the mangled wreckage of the aircraft whose front and middle portions were blown to pieces. An eyewitness said she saw the plane trying to land but was finding it difficult to do so. “The aircraft was making a lot of noise….It drew my attention. It tried to land but could not do so, it slid off the runaway after which there was a big explosion, a big fire…I saw four-five bodies being pulled out of the aircraft,” she said.
Another eye-witness, a local resident living close to the airport, said: “When the flight arrived, I saw it tumbling…I never saw anything like this. It slipped from the landing strip and hit against a rock. And then again it took a tumble after which there was first explosion followed by multiple explosions. Then bodies were thrown out of the plane. We didn’t know Ajit Pawar was one of the victims. Some of his supporters who had come to receive him told us that one of the bodies was of Ajitdada.”
Another eye-witness, who works at the airport, said, “When the plane crashed, all rushed forth to the remove the bodies. There were loud explosions before we could reach the site….After sometime as we reached the debris, we could not recognise the bodies..”
Superintendent of Police (Rural) Sandip Singh Gill told reporters that those on board the plane were immediately rushed to the Baramati hospital. ”Fire broke out immediately after the crash. Those on board the plane were immediate rushed to the local hospital,” he said.
NCP workers and leaders from Baramati and from Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad and from nearby talukas were the first ones to rush to Baramati. Leaders and workers of other political parties too made a beeline to Baramati. By evening, a sea of crowd had landed in Baramati town and were seen at every location including the crash site, the hospital where the bodies were kept and Vidya Pratishtan premises where Ajit Pawar’s body was to be kept for the people to pay last respects.
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Among those was Yogesh Choudhari, who rushed to crash site all the way from Naigaon Peth. “I am at loss of words. Ajitdada was a like big brother who stood by us all the time. Ajitdada was a kind-hearted person. He had come to inaugurate a gram panchayat office. Imagine a Deputy Chief Minister showing such large heart. Every villager from Naigaon Peth, Hingangaon and nearby villagers are in a state of shock,” he said.
Deepali Shinde, a resident of Baramati, broke down as she described her emotional connect with Ajit Pawar. ”When I heard Ajitdada’s plane accident, I could not believe it. I don’t want to even discuss that he has died, I don’t think he can die. Such a straightforward human being that he was, how can he die…” she said.
Sarita Jagtap, another Baramati resident, who rushed to the crash site, said, “The moment I heard about the accident, I rushed to the crash site. I am still not able to believe that he has died. I went around the crash site, saw the wreckage and I still believe, he will turn up from somewhere. What a leader he was…A leader like him will never be born again.”
Deepak Hare said he got a call from a friend in the morning that a plane had crashed near his house. Hare rushed to the accident spot. “Everyone said it is Dada’s plane. Three bodies had been removed earlier and two were remaining. I helped in carrying one body out. None of the bodies were identifiable as the faces were completely black.”
