2023 Learjet crash: Pilots pressed on with unstable landing as Mumbai airport’s charter flights curfew

Mumbai: The pilots of a VSR Ventures Learjet 45XR that crashed at Mumbai airport in Sept 2023 continued an “unstabilised approach” to land in heavy rain apparently because they were anxious to touch down before a daily curfew on non-scheduled flights set in, according to the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau’s (AAIB) final report released three years after the accident.

All eight occupants — two pilots and six passengers — were injured even as the aircraft broke into two.

Delhi-based VSR Ventures is the company whose Learjet 45 crashed at Baramati in Jan killing deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and four other occupants.

The probable cause of the Sept 2023 accident was the crew’s decision to continue the approach in marginal weather, together with inappropriate handling that led to an aerodynamic stall at low altitude from which the aircraft did not recover. An approach is unstabilised when a descending aircraft fails to hold the speed, flight path and alignment needed for a safe touchdown. Safety procedures require pilots to handle such a situation with a second attempt at landing, but that call was taken too late.