Ajit Pawar Death: DGCA Grounds 4 VSR Ventures Aircraft Over Safety Lapses After Plane Crash Audit

Last Updated:February 24, 2026, 22:02 IST

The DGCA said its team found multiple lapses “in the area of airworthiness, air safety, and flight operations” during its special safety audit of VSR Ventures Pvt Ltd

The Baramati plane crash last month claimed the lives of Maharashtra deputy CM Ajit Pawar and four others. (Image: PTI/File)

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Tuesday grounded four registered aircraft of VSR Ventures Pvt Ltd over safety lapses found after it conducted an audit into the Baramati plane crash that claimed the lives of Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and four others last month.

According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the decision was taken after a “special safety audit” of VSR Ventures.

The DGCA said its audit team found multiple lapses “in the area of airworthiness, air safety, and flight operations”.

“Following the accident of LearJet 45 aircraft…on 28.01.2026 at Baramati, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation ordered the special safety audit of the organisation. The multi-disciplinary audit team observed several non-compliances in the approved procedures in the organisation in the area of airworthiness, air safety, and flight operations,” the DGCA said in a press release posted on X.

It said in view of these safety lapses, it has decided to ground four registered LearJet 40/45 aircraft belonging to the company “till continued airworthiness standards are restored”.

“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…till continued airworthiness standards are restored,” it added.

Reacting to the action taken, Maharashtra MLA Rohit Pawar from the NCP(SP) said his family has repeatedly raised the non-compliance issue by VSR Ventures.

“We have been repeatedly raising the issue that VSR company does not follow any compliances, is flying planes in an extremely arbitrary manner and today DGCA has grounded four VSR planes on the same issue of non-compliance. Although our fight is succeeding, this is only a nail in the coffin, there is still a lot to come. Will talk in detail on this topic tomorrow morning…!” Rohit Pawar wrote in a post on X, while sharing the DGCA’s press release.

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