Real Transportes Aéreos Flight 435

Real Transportes Aéreos Flight 435

Fleet of Convair 340 from REAL, with PP-YRA in the foreground and PP-YRB (the crashed aircraft) in the background.
Accident
Date	June 24, 1960 (1960-06-24)
Site	Ilha dos Ferros, Baía de Guanabara, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 22°47′55″S 43°07′25″W / 22.7986086°S 43.1235004°W / -22.7986086; -43.1235004
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Convair 340
Operator	Real Transportes Aéreos, Brazil
Registration	PP-YRB
Flight origin	Aeroporto da Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais
Destination	Aeroporto Santos Dumont, Rio de Janeiro
Occupants	54
Passengers	49
Crew	5
Fatalities	54
Injuries	0
Survivors	0

The REAL Transportes Aéreos Flight 435, connecting Belo Horizonte to Rio de Janeiro, mysteriously crashed into the waters of Baía de Guanabara near Ilha dos Ferros on June 24, 1960.^[1][2][3]

The Convair 340 was manufactured in 1951, as an order from United Airlines which desired an additional row of 4 seats. The crashed aircraft was manufactured in 1954, having received the serial number 191.^[4] In 1958 it was acquired by REAL Transportes Aéreos, receiving the registration PP-YRB, and was valued at the time at US$500,000.^[1]

REAL Transportes Aéreos Flight 435 departed at 17:22 on June 24, 1960, from Aeroporto da Pampulha in Belo Horizonte bound for Aeroporto Santos Dumont in Rio de Janeiro, carrying 5 crew members and 49 passengers, piloted by Captain João Afonso Fabrício Belloc. The flight proceeded without issues until it neared Santos Dumont Airport. Around 18:43, Captain Belloc reported at the NDB checkpoint at Ilha dos Ferros that he was beginning the landing procedures. It was raining heavily in Rio de Janeiro. This was the last communication from the aircraft with the Rio de Janeiro Approach Control (APP-RJ). After the Convair 340 disappeared from radar screens, a search was initiated by the Search and Rescue Service of the Força Aérea Brasileira and various public and private boats. Part of the Convair wreckage was located by a Guanabara state boat at 1:15 am on June 25. Few bodies could be identified due to the violence of the crash, which suggested the hypothesis of an explosion on board. However, examinations of the wreckage did not reveal any traces of fire or explosion on board.^[2][5]

After news of the crash emerged, some witnesses came forward, including Cabo Ramos, responsible for maintaining the NDB at Ilha dos Ferros. According to the military man's account, he heard the sound of a low-flying aircraft (identifying the characteristic noise of the Convair) over the island and ran to the window of his quarters. Before he could reach it, he heard a dull thud of an object falling into the waters of Baía de Guanabara. He waited to hear cries for help, see any flash, hear an explosion, etc. As he heard nothing, he returned to the interior of the quarters. It was only with the sound of rescue boats during the early morning that he became aware of the accident.^[2]

Despite the investigators' efforts, the cause of the accident was never discovered. Only a portion of the aircraft's wreckage was recovered; additionally, the aircraft was not equipped with flight recorders or black boxes, items that existed only on jet aircraft of that era.^[2]

The following hypotheses were proposed to explain the accident:^[2]

• Explosion on board (dismissed after examining the wreckage);
• Accidental opening of the rear right door during the flight, which, torn off by the wind, hit the right engine (dismissed after the door was found with its locks intact);
• Damage caused by an unknown agent (bird strike, engine defect, etc.) to the right engine found without the front part and its propeller (dismissed due to the inability to determine if the lack of part of the engine and propeller was a result of impact over the waters of Baía de Guanabara or problems with the respective engine);

The plane crashed on Ilha dos Ferros, scattering wreckage across the island and into the sea, with searches for the wreckage continuing until July 6. Some wreckage was found in the region of Ilha de Paquetá. The accident contributed to the decline of Real Transportes Aéreos, which was acquired by Varig the following year. The accident also prompted the creation of a Parliamentary Inquiry Commission by the Chamber of Deputies, aimed at investigating the causes of the high number of aviation accidents in the country at that time. The CPI was chaired by Congressman Miguel Antônio Bahury [pt], whose wife, Maria, had died in the crash of REAL Flight 435. Ironically, Congressman Bahury also died^[6] about 3 years later in the crash of Serviços Aéreos Cruzeiro do Sul Flight 144, operated by another Convair 340, near the São Paulo–Congonhas Airport.^[2]

• SILVA, Carlos Ari Cesar Germano da; O rastro da bruxa: história da aviação comercial brasileira no século XX através dos seus acidentes; Porto Alegre Editora EDIPUCRS, 2008, pp 190–193.

• Accident data on the Aviation Safety Network