Aircraft crash kills India's Maharashtra deputy chief minister, 4 others

NEW DELHI - Five people, including the deputy chief minister of India's western state of Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar, and two pilots, on board an aircraft were killed Wednesday in a crash, officials said.

The small aircraft crashed while attempting to land at Baramati airport in Pune district, about 249 km southeast of Mumbai, the capital city of Maharashtra.

According to an initial report released by India's civil aviation watchdog, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), no person on board has survived the crash.

The other two passengers were a personal security officer and an attendant, according to the report from DGCA.

The aviation watchdog said the aircraft, Learjet 45, operated by VSR Aviation, crash-landed at Baramati.

Reports said the aircraft lost control at the time of landing at Baramati airport, and during the descent, the plane crashed-landed and immediately caught fire.

Television images showed flames and columns of smoke rising from the wreckage of the plane.

Visuals from the spot also showed mangled remains of the aircraft and police, emergency and other officials on site. Locals were also seen at the crash site.

Officials said the 66-year-old Pawar was travelling from Mumbai to Pune to attend campaign rallies for the ongoing rural body elections.

VSR Ventures Pvt. Ltd. is a private aviation company based in New Delhi that operates charter flights. The company does not run regular airline services and instead provides on-demand private jet flights for clients.