London – Lisbon – Bathurst – Natal – Rio de Janeiro – Santiago de Chile

On January 5, 1949 at 12:00 AM, London – Lisbon – Bathurst – Natal – Rio de Janeiro – Santiago de Chile experienced a crash involving Avro 685 York, operated by British South American Airways - BSAA, with the event recorded near Caravelas Bahia.

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

15 people were known to be on board, 3 fatalities were recorded, 12 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 20.0%.

Crew on board: 6, crew fatalities: 0, passengers on board: 9, passenger fatalities: 3, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is technical failure. During the takeoff roll at Rio de Janeiro, the tire on the right main gear burst. The crew continued the takeoff procedure and after departure, the copilot and the flight engineer proceeded to a visual control of the right main gear and did not notice anything unusual. After three hours and a half into the flight, the engine number three caught fire. The captain started an emergency descent and elected to land in Caravelas. On touchdown in a field, the aircraft went out of control and came to rest in flames. Three passengers were killed while 12 other occupants were injured. The aircraft was destroyed.

Aircraft reference details include registration G-AHEX, MSN 1301, year of manufacture 1946.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately -17.7350°, -39.2627°.