Accident Details
On a charter flight from Rio de Janeiro-Galeão Airport to Macaé, a twin-engine airplane was carrying 16 journalists from four Brazilian TV networks who had been invited by Petrobras to visit an offshore oil platform. While descending to Macaé Airport in poor weather conditions, the crew decided to continue under visual flight rules (VFR) mode. The aircraft subsequently struck the slope of Mount Morro São João, which has an elevation of 600 meters, located approximately 34 kilometers southwest of the threshold of runway 06. The aircraft was destroyed upon impact, and all 18 occupants were killed.
Probable Cause
The official investigation determined that the probable cause of the accident was controlled flight into terrain after the crew continued the approach under VFR mode in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC).