What happened
While operating a flight from Carolina toward Belém-Va-de-Cans Airport, the aircraft experienced a critical failure of its left engine. This malfunction led to an onboard fire and a subsequent explosion. Shortly after notifying air traffic control of the emergency, the crew encountered a second failure as the right engine also lost power.
In an effort to manage the weight of the aircraft during the emergency, the crew performed a jettison of several cargo items. Due to the loss of all propulsion, the captain decided to perform an emergency ditching in the Rio Capim, located approximately 230 km south of Belém. The aircraft remained buoyant for roughly 15 minutes before it submerged and was lost.
Of the four people on board, three crew members were successfully rescued from the wreckage, while one fatality occurred due to drowning.
Findings
Investigations determined that the sequence of events began when a propeller blade detached during flight, which subsequently caused the failure of the left engine.