The Brazilian Air Force (FAB) reported this Saturday (06) that the search for the helicopter that disappeared off the coast of São Paulo was reinforced with the Black Hawk, a medium-sized military helicopter used for rescue and rescue missions.
On December 31, a helicopter carrying four people disappeared. He left São Paulo heading to Ilhabela, on the north coast of São Paulo.
This Saturday (6), the sixth day of searches ended. In addition to the Black Hawk, it is also used in the search for the helicopter the SC-105 Amazonas aircraft, from the Pelicano Squadron. This aircraft has been present in the searches since day one.
According to the FAB, the mission was hampered by the conditions meteorological conditions and the mountainous terrain in the region. The total search area is five thousand square kilometers. The helicopter has not yet been located.
“Needle in the haystack”
The total search area is 5 thousand square meters. In an interview with CNN on Friday (5), Lieutenant Colonel Emanuel Garioli, commander of the Pelican Squadron of the Brazilian Air Force (FAB), stated that there is no set date for the searches to end.
“Normally, when we are called into search, the weather is not favorable. We also have a mountainous relief and dense Atlantic Forest. Along with this, we also have a small gray aircraft,” said the official.
The São Paulo Military Police are also participating in the search for the missing aircraft. On Friday (5), also in an interview with CNN , Major Joscilênio Fernandes, from the São Paulo Military Police, stated that the operation is “like looking for a needle in a haystack”. “The helicopter is gray, and if there is thick vegetation under the trees, visual work becomes much more difficult, even though we are trained for this and we are flying low”, says Fernandes.
Helicopter would try to land in Ubatuba
One of the helicopter passengers, businessman Raphael Torres, 41, sent a voice message to his son on Sunday afternoon saying that the weather was bad in Ilhabela and that the aircraft would try to land in Ubatuba.
Also on Sunday, another passenger, Letícia Ayumi Rodzewics Sakumoto, sent a message to her boyfriend reporting that the equipment had made an emergency landing and that there was a lot of fog at that time.
She said she was scared and added that the helicopter would try to return. The young woman was unable to specify where the group was.
Who was on board
Raphael had invited his friend Luciana Rodzewics, 46, Letícia's mother, to the flight. They would do a “round trip” in Ilhabela.
Shortly after takeoff, Luciana posted a video on the store's Instagram showing the moment the helicopter with four people on board flew over the capital of São Paulo.
See this photo on Instagram
The helicopter, a Robinson R44 manufactured in 2001, was piloted by Cassiano Tete Teodoro, 44 years old. He had his license and qualifications revoked by the National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac) because of “serious infractions against civil aviation safety”. The regulatory agency says he appealed, but the decision was upheld.
“Cassiano Tete Teodoro was revoked due to, among other reasons, evasion of supervision, fraud in flight plans and practices involving clandestine air transport”, adds Anac.
Also according to the agency, “in October 2023, after observing the legal maximum period for the administrative penalty of revocation, which is two years, the pilot returned to the civil aviation system by obtaining a new license with qualification for Private Helicopter Pilot ( PPH)”. “This license does not give authorization to carry out commercial passenger flights”, concludes Anac.
Lawyer Érica Rodrigues Zandoná, who represents the pilot, says that “the defense reserves the right not to comment until it has ascertained all the facts from its client”.
VIDEO – Color of the helicopter also hinders the search, says expert
Source: CNN Brasil
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