Ajit Pawar dies in plane crash: List of Indian politicians who lost their lives in air tragedies
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and five other persons were killed after an aircraft carrying them crashed in Pune district on Wednesday morning. Let's have a look at a list of the top politicians who lost their lives in air tragedies.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four others lost their lives after the aircraft they were travelling in crashed in Pune district on Wednesday morning. The accident occurred during landing in the Baramati area of Pune, when the plane carrying the 66-year-old NCP leader and others went down. Here is a look at some of the top politicians and prominent personalities who have died in air crashes:
Vijay Rupani (2025)
Former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani died in a tragic plane crash in Ahmedabad on June 12, 2025. Rupani was on the London-bound flight that crashed moments after taking off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, killing 241 of the 242 persons on board.
Dorjee Khandu (2011)
Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu and four others were killed on April 30, 2011, when a helicopter carrying them from Tawang to Itanagar crashed in West Kameng district of the state.
YS Reddy (2009)
Then chief minister of Andhra Pradesh Y S Rajasekhara Reddy (2009), popularly known as YSR, died on September 2, 2009, when his Bell 430 helicopter crashed in the dense Nallamala forest due to bad weather.
OP Jindal and Surender Singh (2005)
Industrialist and Haryana minister Om Prakash Jindal lost his life in a helicopter crash in 2005 along with Agriculture Minister Surender Singh. Their chopper was en route Chandigarh from Delhi when it crashed in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur.
KS Sowmya (2004)
Famous South Indian actress K S Sowmya, popular as Soundarya, lost her life in an air crash on April 17, 2004. The "Sooryavansham" actress was flying from Bengaluru to Karimnagar with her brother at the time of the crash.
Cyprian Sangma (2004)
Meghalaya's Rural Development Minister Cyprian Sangma and nine others, who were heading from Guwahati to Shillong on a Pawan Hans helicopter, were killed when the chopper crashed near the Barapani lake, just 20 km from the state capital, on September 22, 2004.
GMC Balayogi (2002)
Lok Sabha Speaker and Telugu Desam Party leader GMC Balayogi died in a chopper crash on March 3, 2002, when a private helicopter carrying him from Bhimavaram in West Godavari district crashed into a pond near Kaikalur in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh.
Madhavrao Scindia (2001)
Senior Congress leader Madhavrao Scindia, himself a former civil aviation minister, died on September 30, 2001, in a plane crash en route a political rally in Kanpur. The 10-seater private aircraft crashed due to poor weather conditions near Manipuri in Uttar Pradesh.
Sanjay Gandhi (1980)
Congress leader and son of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi, died in a tragic crash on June 23, 1980. Attempting aerial stunts in a Delhi Flying Club aircraft near the Safdarjung Airport, the plane lost control and crashed.
CDS General Bipin Rawat
CDS General Bipin Rawat (2021) India's first Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat, died in a helicopter crash on December 8, 2021. The incident occurred near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu while he was en route from Sulur to Wellington with his wife and 11 others.