The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has blamed the September 2023 Learjet crash at Mumbai airport on the crew’s decision to continue an unstable approach in poor weather. It also found lapses in pilot training, record-keeping and internal audits at VSR Ventures, the operator whose Learjet crashed at Baramati in January, killing Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and four others.
In January, after the Baramati crash, HT found that the Mumbai report was among those still pending. Several factors contributed to the accident. The crew did not monitor airspeed against a rising low-speed cue, and the monitoring pilot was late in calling for a go-around. It also asked for a direction to non-scheduled and general aviation operators to ensure pilots complete all mandatory training, including critical emergency exercises.
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Experts said then that its findings could have shown whether VSR needed stricter oversight. “The probable cause of the accident was the flight crew’s decision to continue the un-stabilized approach under marginal weather conditions and inappropriate handling of aircraft which led to an aerodynamic stall at low altitude from which the aircraft did not recover,” the report said. Rain impaired the crew’s visual cues, the aircraft had a high tailwind, and the crew showed “undue commitment” to land before restrictions at Mumbai took effect. Both engines were working normally, and the aircraft’s serviceability did not contribute, the report said. During the recurrent training of some of the company’s Learjet pilots, investigators found, skill checks on critical emergency items were not carried out “in toto” in the one-year cycle, including on simulators. Technical and airframe log books were not maintained properly, and “the internal audits were not carried out diligently by the company,” the report said.
