Miami – Santiago de Cuba – Port-au-Prince – Trinidad – Georgetown – Paramaribo – Cayenne – Belém – Sao Luis – Luis Correia – Camocim – Fortaleza – Natal – Joao Pessoa – Recife – Maceió – Aracaju – Salvador – Caravelas – Vitória - Rio de Janeiro

On August 13, 1939 at 04:35 PM, Miami – Santiago de Cuba – Port-au-Prince – Trinidad – Georgetown – Paramaribo – Cayenne – Belém – Sao Luis – Luis Correia – Camocim – Fortaleza – Natal – Joao Pessoa – Recife – Maceió – Aracaju – Salvador – Caravelas – Vitória - Rio de Janeiro experienced a crash involving Sikorsky S-43, operated by Pan American World Airways - PAA, with the event recorded near Rio de Janeiro 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.

16 people were known to be on board, 14 fatalities were recorded, 2 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 87.5%.

Crew on board: 4, crew fatalities: 4, passengers on board: 12, passenger fatalities: 10, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is technical failure. The aircraft christened 'Baby Clipper' was circled over Rio and was making a normal approach to the seaplane landing area adjoining the air line's Rio base, in accordance with the company's established operating procedure, when it suddenly lost power on the left engine, yawed to the left, and started a descending turn in the same direction. The airplane continued to lose altitude and to turn at a sharper and steeper angle until it struck a caisson anchored at right angles to a small island in the harbor immediately adjacent to its landing approach path. All four members of the crew and ten passengers were fatally injured in the accident, one passenger escaping with serious and another with minor injuries. Crew: Addison G. Parsons, pilot, George B. King, copilot, Russell Jenkins, radio operator, Julio Trujillo, steward. Passengers: Henrie May Eddy, James Harvey Rogers, Robert Landman, Evaristo Gomes Miranda, Anton Ommundsen, Emanuel Valensa, Pablo Lavin, Edgar Delly Oliveira, Alberto Oliveira Santos, Lucila A. Oliveira Santos, Osvaldo Hirth, Mario Souto Lyra.

Aircraft reference details include registration NC16933, MSN 4316, year of manufacture 1936.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately -22.9053°, -43.2268°.