Air accidents in Brazil in 2021 were more fatal than last year, killing 50 people in 114 accidents by November 10, the same number of deaths recorded in the entire year of 2020, which had 149 occurrences.
The numbers are from the Center for Investigation and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents (Cenipa), which also points out that, in 2021, all deaths occurred in just 20 accidents.
Only 25% of air accidents in Brazil resulted in deaths, says the agency. In the last 10 years, with the numbers for 2021, there were 1,825 air accidents and 472 of them were fatal, with 874 deaths and the year 2012 was the period with the most occurrences, 205 in total.
Over the years, the trend in the number of accidents and deaths has been declining, except for a slight increase recorded between 2017 and 2018, according to Cenipa. The last fatal accident was the one that involved the singer Marília Mendonça and four other people, last Friday (5).
This year, 29 deaths occurred in 47 accidents involving private aircraft. With regard to air taxis, which was the case with Marília Mendonça, the record is ten accidents, but the only deaths recorded were on the flight that took the singer.
Engine failure is the main cause
Cenipa’s investigation area also pointed out that, since 2011, 63% of accidents had operational factors as the main responsible and 35% occurred due to human factors. The biggest cause of accidents in the last 10 years was engine failure, which corresponds to 19.8% of accidents, followed closely by loss of control in flight (18.8%). Loss of ground control (12.1%) and collision with an obstacle during the flight (6.9%) comes next as the main causes.
Accidents by segment
Accounting for accidents by segment, private aircraft are the most exposed, corresponding to 40.2% of cases. Then, experimental flights, usually linked to test flights using new technologies, with aircraft still without a certificate for regular use, account for 16.6% of accidents. Agricultural flights account for 15.3%, instruction flights for 13.1%, and air taxi, which was the case with the plane belonging to singer Marília Mendonça, accounted for 6.4% of accidents.
For the specialist in risk analysis, Gustavo Cunha Mello, these data are not alarming. He says that when the number of planes circulating increases, there is invariably an increase in the number of accidents.
“The numbers are within normal limits, as the number of aircraft has increased a lot. They are within the nature of the operations, the number of planes, the size of the fleets, etc. I don’t think I’m having more plane crashes. These accidents draw a lot of attention and that’s why people get a little scared. But it is worth noting that the vast majority of these accidents do not result in victims, but only damage the aircraft”, he emphasizes.
Regions with more occurrences
São Paulo is the region where most aircraft accidents happen. Since 2011, the state has registered 1,372 occurrences. In second place is Minas Gerais, with 533 records, and Rio de Janeiro in third, with 475 accidents. In 2021 alone, the state of São Paulo has already registered 23 occurrences, Minas Gerais 15 and Rio de Janeiro, two.
ongoing investigation
Regarding the investigation into the plane crash that killed the singer Marília Mendonça and four other people, experts from Seripa III, an agency linked to the Air Force Command, analyze the fuselage and wings of the twin-engine to clarify the causes of the aircraft’s crash.
The parts were delivered on Tuesday (9) at the Galeão Air Base, in Rio de Janeiro. This Wednesday (10), the same company will deliver two engines to the Air Force. These engines are on their way to the Aeronautical Services Center (CSA) in Goiânia.
Investigations are also continuing in Minas Gerais. THE CNN, the regional delegate for Caratinga, Ivan Lopes Sales, said experts are working to find out whether the cable found by the teams in the plane’s propeller is the same one that broke the transmission tower.
According to experts consulted by CNN, the main question now is to establish the reasons why the aircraft flew below the ideal altitude, which led to collide with the cables of the electrical tower. It is necessary to investigate whether the plane failed, which caused the pilot to lose control of the aircraft, or whether there was human error, experts say.
Reference: CNN Brasil
