Rio de Janeiro – São Paulo

On September 12, 1954 at 08:07 PM, Rio de Janeiro – São Paulo experienced a crash involving Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3), operated by Cruzeiro do Sul, with the event recorded near Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont Rio de Janeiro.

The flight was categorized as scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a lake, sea, ocean, river crash site.

30 people were known to be on board, 6 fatalities were recorded, 24 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 20.0%.

Crew on board: 4, crew fatalities: 0, passengers on board: 26, passenger fatalities: 6, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. The aircraft left Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont Airport at the end of the afternoon, bound for São Paulo-Congonhas Airport. While descending to Congonhas, the crew encountered below minima weather conditions and decided to return to Santos Dumont. While approaching Rio, the left engine suffered severe vibrations and was shut down and its propeller was feathered. As the aircraft was too high on approach, the crew elected to make a go around when the airplane stalled and crashed into the Guanabara Bay. Six passengers were killed while 24 other occupants were rescued. The aircraft was lost.

Aircraft reference details include registration PP-CDJ, MSN 19278, year of manufacture 1943.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately -22.8057°, -43.4315°.