São Paulo – Rio de Janeiro

On May 3, 1963 at 07:40 PM, São Paulo – Rio de Janeiro experienced a crash involving Convair CV-340, operated by Cruzeiro do Sul, with the event recorded near São Paulo-Congonhas São Paulo.

The flight was categorized as scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

50 people were known to be on board, 37 fatalities were recorded, 13 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 74.0%.

Crew on board: 5, crew fatalities: 4, passengers on board: 45, passenger fatalities: 33, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. The aircraft was on scheduled domestic flight from São Paulo to Rio de Janeiro with 5 crew and 45 passengers aboard. Following an eight-minute delay due to heavy traffic, the flight was cleared to take off from São Paulo-Congonhas Airport. One minute after takeoff the pilot-in-command reported to the tower that the aircraft's n°2 engine was on fire, and he would return to the airport. A left turn was begun, and it is presumed that the pilot feathered n°2 propeller. He began the downwind leg to runway 16 and asked the tower operators whether anything abnormal could be seen regarding the aircraft's n°2 engine. The tower operators, from whom n°2 engine was hidden by the fuselage, reported that they could not see anything abnormal. Presumably the pilot unfeathered the propeller which started windmilling. Approximately abeam the tower, the aircraft began to lose altitude and when it started the final turn its altitude was very low. The aircraft was probably nosed up and stalled with a bank of 45°; it first struck a house with its nose and left wing, then hit the ground (elevation 800 meters) and made a 260° turn on its left wing. The accident occurred at night in a well illuminated, densely populated area. The aircraft was destroyed upon impact and 4 crew members and 33 passengers were killed, 13 other occupants being injured.

Aircraft reference details include registration PP-CDW, MSN 159, year of manufacture 1954.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately -20.8056°, -49.4054°.