India, Jan. 28 -- Maharashtra's deputy chief minister and Nationalist Congress leader Ajit Pawar passed away on Wednesday after his aircraft underwent a deadly crash in Baramati, killing all five on board.

The five people, including Pawar and his security staff, left early morning from Mumbai and were headed to the deputy CM's hometown Baramati, where he was expected to address four public meetings ahead of the Zilla Parishad polls in the state.

Ajit Pawar's plane, a Lear jet 45, VT-SSK, operated by VSR crashed at the threshold of runway 11 at Baramati airport around 8:48 am. The aircraft immediately reduced to flames, killing everyone aboard.

According to Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), four people were present inside th...