Ajit Pawar plane crash at Baramati airport: Why tabletop runways are dangerous?

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• Ajit Pawar died in a Learjet crash at Baramati Airport, killing five people.
• Crash highlights risks at India's high-altitude, underequipped airstrips.
• DGCA launched a probe into weather, technical faults, and operational lapses.

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Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar perished in a horrific Learjet crash at Baramati Airport on Wednesday morning, reigniting scrutiny over aviation hazards at India's challenging airstrips. The incident, which claimed five lives including security personnel and crew, unfolded amid reports of a botched landing at the elevated facility, though it lacks the classic tabletop design of other notorious sites.

Flight tracking website Flightradar24 say Pawar's aircraft was attempting a second approach to the Baramati Airport when it crashed. According to the DGCA, it is a tabletop runway.

Baramati airstrip is small and does not have ILS (Instrument Landing System) facilities. The pilot had to attempt a manual and visual landing. The aircraft did not approach the runway directly but made a large turn. During landing, the aircraft crashed near the edge of the tabletop runway.

The Learjet 45, registered VT-SSK and flying in from Mumbai, lost control during descent on its 1,770-metre runway, situated at 604 metres above mean sea level without advanced landing aids.

Eyewitnesses described a nightmarish scene: the aircraft burst into flames upon impact in a nearby field, with 4-5 explosions rocking the site. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has swiftly launched a probe into potential weather factors, technical faults and operational lapses.

Baramati Airport itself is not among India's five primary tabletop runways — Kozhikode, Mangalore, Lengpui, Shimla and Pakyong — but the crash has thrust these perilous designs back into focus. Tabletop runways, perched on hilltop plateaus with sheer drops at their ends, offer pilots scant margin for error, often creating optical illusions that make the strip appear closer than it is. DGCA mandates specialised training for such operations, where tailwinds, rain or misjudged approaches can prove fatal.

The parallels are stark. In August 2020, an Air India Express Boeing 737 overshot Kozhikode's tabletop runway amid monsoon rains and poor visibility, tumbling 35 feet into a gorge and killing 21 people.

A decade earlier at Mangalore, another Air India Express flight veered off the elevated strip, plunging into a valley in a blaze that claimed 158 lives — blamed squarely on pilot error. Nepal's Tenzing-Hillary Airport has similarly seen cargo crashes tied to treacherous terrain and weather.

Post-Kozhikode, aviation authorities recommended runway cushion extensions and enhanced safety protocols, underscoring the inherent risks of these "critical" airfields compared to buffered standard strips.

While Baramati's configuration differs, the tragedy serves as a grim reminder of India's aviation vulnerabilities at high-altitude, underequipped sites. As investigators comb the wreckage, questions linger over regulatory oversight and pilot preparedness in an era of expanding regional flights.