A helicopter chartered by Maharashtra minister Chhagan Bhujbal landed at the wrong place, in a parking lot, in Pune’s Purandar area on Saturday morning, a kilometer away from the designated helipad.
The reason was not explicitly clear, but the incident sparked panic because it comes less than three months after Deputy Prime Minister Ajit Pawar died in a plane crash.
“My pilot landed wrongly in the parking lot. We are all safe,” said Bhujbal, who went there to attend a program marking the bicentenary birth anniversary of social activist Jyotiba Phule.
A senior Pune Rural Police officer said they would report the matter to the DGCA and the pilot would “have to face action”.
No information has yet been received from the pilot, crew, or company that operated the helicopter.
When a helicopter is supposed to land in a certain area, the local public works department gives the helicopter crew’s latitude and longitude. Pune district police said they had prepared a helipad, and the crew was aware of it, but ignored it.
There was a huge cloud of dust when the helicopter landed in the parking lot.
Panic after Ajit Pawar’s death
The incident has sparked panic as it comes just 10 weeks after a Learjet 45 crashed at Baramati Airport on January 28, 2026, killing Deputy Prime Minister Ajit Pawar and all four other people on board. Surveillance camera footage showed the plane turning over and losing control before exploding.
Pawar, 66, was traveling to Baramati to attend a rally ahead of the district council elections.
The investigation has since revealed a series of systemic failures. The initial report by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) indicated that the aircraft had been cleared to land even though visibility at the time was only 3 kilometers – well below the minimum requirement of 5,000 meters under visual flight rules – and the airport lacked suitable navigation instruments, a certified landing system, or meteorological facilities.
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The report also highlighted faded runway markings and loose gravel on the surface as contributing hazards.
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The cockpit voice recorder, which was damaged in the fire that followed the accident, was sent to the US National Transportation Safety Board to recover the data.
VSR Ventures owner VK Singh was questioned by the police.
