What happened
On the morning of the accident, a twin-engine aircraft departed from Belo Horizonte-Pampulha Airport at 07:00 local time, bound for Juiz de Fora. The flight was carrying a total of eight people, consisting of two pilots and six passengers. While communicating with Juiz de Fora Radio, the crew was notified that visibility at the destination airport had dropped below IFR minimums due to the presence of mist.
Despite the degraded weather conditions, the crew elected to continue the flight toward the destination. The plan was to execute a non-precision RNAV (GNSS) IFR approach to land on runway 03. During the final approach phase, the aircraft struck several obstacles before hitting the ground approximately 245 meters short of the runway 03 threshold. The impact triggered an explosion that caused the total destruction of the aircraft. There were 8 fatalities in the crash, including both the President and Vice-President of the Vilmas Alimentos Group.
Findings
- The flight was operating under IFR procedures despite weather conditions being below established minimums.
- The aircraft struck obstacles prior to ground impact during the final approach.