A small plane crashed on Sunday morning (29) in Rio Claro, southern Rio de Janeiro state, killing its two occupants. The bodies were found carbonized after the aircraft hit a hill in a wooded area. Authorities have launched investigations into the causes.
A single-engine plane crashed around 11:55 a.m. on Sunday (29) on a private property along Estrada de São João Marcos, in the Passa Três region of Rio Claro, southern Rio de Janeiro state. Witnesses told the Military Police that the aircraft, carrying two occupants, collided with a hill before falling into a wooded area.
Rio Fire Department (CBMERJ) teams arrived to find the two men dead, their bodies carbonized. One victim was identified as Everaldo Costa Filho, 73, the pilot and commander of the plane, who presented himself as its owner despite it not being registered in his name. A businessman, he had logged over 2,450 flight hours across 283 airfields in 17 Brazilian states, according to his social media posts.
The 2010-manufactured aircraft was experimental, weighed 600 kg, and was in normal status per the National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac), which sent a team to the site. The area was cordoned off, and Police Civil forensics were called in, along with the Aeronautical Accident Investigation and Prevention Center (Cenipa) via its Third Regional Service, to probe potential mechanical failures or weather factors.
