Rio de Janeiro – São Paulo – Porto Alegre – Buenos Aires

On October 14, 1952 at 03:10 PM, Rio de Janeiro – São Paulo – Porto Alegre – Buenos Aires experienced a crash involving Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3), operated by Aerovias Brasil, with the event recorded near Bom Jesus Rio Grande do Sul.

The flight was categorized as scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was flight at a plain, valley crash site.

18 people were known to be on board, 14 fatalities were recorded, 4 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 77.8%.

Crew on board: 4, crew fatalities: 4, passengers on board: 14, passenger fatalities: 10, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. The aircraft left São Paulo-Congonhas Airport at 1145LT bound for Porto Alegre. En route, weather conditions deteriorated and the crew obtained the permission to reduce his altitude to 3,000 feet. While flying in poor visibility due to heavy rain falls, the pilot-in-command did not realize that his altitude was insufficient when the aircraft hit trees. The left wing was sheared off and the aircraft crashed into the forest of Aparados da Serra located about 5 km southeast of Bom Jesus. Four passengers were rescued while 14 other occupants were killed, among them the Argentinian musicians Miguel Cao and Ivo Schwanter.

Aircraft reference details include registration PP-AXJ, MSN 6177, year of manufacture 1942.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately -28.6693°, -50.4347°.