A small plane crashed onto a closed restaurant in Capão da Canoa, northern coast of Rio Grande do Sul, on Friday morning, April 3, killing all four aboard. The victims included business couple Débora Belanda Ortolani and Luiz Ortolani, as well as Renan Saes and pilot Nélio Maria Batista Pessanha. No one on the ground was injured.
The Piper JetPROP DLX plane took off from Capão da Canoa around 10:35 a.m. bound for Itápolis, São Paulo. According to the Fire Department, it collided with power lines shortly after takeoff on Avenida Valdomiro Cândido dos Reis and crashed onto a restaurant closed for renovations.
Firefighters confirmed the four deaths in the early evening and ended the search. “We are closing the operation with the four victims found. Now, the city hall teams are cleaning the site,” said 1st Lieutenant Rodrigo Vieira Cabral, spokesman for the Rio Grande do Sul Fire Department.
The restaurant owner, Douglas, said it would have been open at the time of the crash, but renovations kept family and employees away. “A blessing, thanks to God, because my family and employees were not inside where they could have been, and now it's time to rebuild,” he stated. Civil Defense evacuated nearby residents due to explosion risks, and the utility suspended power supply.
The Center for Investigation and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents (Cenipa) was called in to probe the causes, with an initial hypothesis of loss of altitude.
