What happened
While operating a flight from Rio Verde toward Goiânia, the crew reported an active fire within the passenger cabin. In response to the emergency, the pilot elected to divert the aircraft to Palmeira de Goiás to perform a controlled landing. During the descent, the crew made multiple attempts to suppress the flames, but these efforts failed to contain the fire.
In an effort to reach the ground safely, the pilot began reducing altitude. Approximately 20 meters above the surface, the aircraft underwent an in-flight explosion and crashed a short distance from the Palmeira de Goiás airport. The impact caused the total disintegration of the airframe. There were 24 fatalities among the occupants.
Findings
Investigation efforts at the crash site were complicated by the fact that local residents had looted the wreckage prior to investigators arriving two days later. While the lack of physical evidence made determining a definitive cause difficult, eyewitness accounts suggested the fire originated in the rear section of the cabin rather than within the wing-mounted fuel tanks.
Investigators noted that the presence of flammable items in the baggage compartment may have ignited the blaze. A significant contributing factor identified was that the aircraft lacked fire detection systems, which delayed the crew's ability to identify and react to the developing emergency.