Seven people died in two plane crashes that occurred last Friday (11) in the region of Ouro Preto (MG), a municipality located around 100 kilometers from Belo Horizonte.
The first occurrence was in the afternoon, when a single-engine Air Tractor model AT-502B that was fighting forest fires in Minas Gerais fell into a steep mountain range in Ouro Preto.
The plane, manufactured in 2021, was piloted by Adriano Machado, 58 years old. The small aircraft, registration PS-SLR, crashed in a dense forest area and the pilot’s body was found charred.
On the same day of the tragedy, in the morning, Machado published a video on his social networks of him in an aircraft fighting the flames.
The second accident that occurred on Friday was at night. A helicopter from the Minas Gerais Fire Department that was searching for the single-engine vehicle crashed in the same region, leaving six more people dead.
Among the helicopter’s occupants were four firefighters, a doctor and a nurse from the Mobile Emergency Care Service (Samu).
In an interview with CNN This Saturday (12), Lieutenant Henrique Barcellos, spokesman for the Minas Gerais Fire Department, stated that the weather conditions at the time of the search flight were not favorable.
“But we emphasize that public safety aviation, emergency aviation, is qualified to navigate in more adverse situations than civil aviation. Much also due to the experience of our pilots, certification and qualification in these scenarios”, he added.
According to Barcellos, the area where the helicopter crashed is difficult to access. “The site has a drop in level of around 300 meters. It’s a very steep mountain,” he said. According to preliminary information, the aircraft crashed into a wall in the forest before crashing.
The corporation’s spokesperson added that the aircraft’s pilot, Captain Wilker Tadeu Alves da Silva, was very experienced and had already worked to rescue victims of the environmental tragedy in Brumadinho, in the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte.
In addition to the pilot, Lieutenant Victor Stehling Schirmer, Sergeant Welerson Gonçalves Filgueiros, Sergeant Gabriel Ferreira Lima e Silva, doctor Marcos Rodrigo Trindade and nurse Bruno Sudário França died in the accident. The last two were rescuers from the Mobile Emergency Care Service (Samu).
There is still no information about wakes and burials for those killed in both incidents.
The Center for Research and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents (Cenipa) informed that it will act in the investigation of the two accidents.
What did the fire helicopter that crashed look like?
The Fire Department aircraft, called Arcanjo 04, which crashed in Ouro Preto was a BK 117 C-2 model, manufactured in 2013 by the company Eurocopter.
The helicopter had capacity for 11 people, nine passengers and two crew members.
According to registration with the National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac), the helicopter, prefix PR-UEA, was in good standing, with an Airworthiness Verification Certificate (CVA) valid until February of next year.
Government declares official mourning
The governor of Minas Gerais, Romeu Zema (Novo), published this Saturday, in an extra edition of the Official Gazette, a three-day mourning in mourning for the deaths of the four firefighters and two Samu agents who died while carrying out the rescue mission.
Also this Saturday, the Ministries of Health and Justice published notes in honor of those killed in the accident with the Archangel 04 helicopter.
“The dedication and courage of these professionals, who daily risk their lives to save others, will not be forgotten. At this time of great sadness, the Ministry of Health offers its most sincere condolences to the families, friends and co-workers of the victims, wishing comfort and serenity to all who suffer this loss”, wrote the Ministry of Health.
This content was originally published in Two plane crashes in one day: what we know about aircraft crashes in MG on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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