What happened
On the scheduled flight from São Paulo-Congonhas Airport to Curitiba-Afonso Pena, the Embraer aircraft, registered PP-SDJ, departed at 10:15Z carrying twenty passengers and five crew members. The flight was initially operating under visual meteorological conditions; however, upon reaching the area near Paranaguá, the flight entered instrument meteorological conditions characterized by moderate turbulence. During this period, the crew experienced difficulties maintaining accurate navigation, necessitating multiple changes to the ADF frequencies as they attempted to track various NDB stations.
After transmitting a position report to Curitiba Control at 11:17Z, the aircraft turned toward a magnetic heading of 283°. Following instructions from air traffic control, the crew descended to flight level 70. At 11:26Z, the pilot reported passing the Bacacheri NDB at 30°, and subsequently received clearance to descend further to flight level 50 while holding above the Curitiba NDB. At 11:28Z, the crew reported being over the Curitiba NDB and began an adjustment to intercept the downwind leg for runway 15 by turning to a heading of 359°.
Approximately seventeen seconds into this turn, while the aircraft was banking slightly to the right on a heading of 325°, it struck a hill at an altitude of 4,635 feet. The impact resulted in the total destruction of the aircraft and caused 21 fatalities, though two crew members and two passengers survived the crash.
Findings
Investigations concluded that the accident was primarily the result of pilot error involving improper instrument flight procedures. Several contributing factors were identified, including the failure to confirm the aircraft's position over the Curitiba-Afonso Pena NDB and an inaccurate position relative to the Bacacheri NDB. The crew also failed to utilize available VOR equipment and did not properly execute all necessary phases of the descent pattern. Additionally, the investigation noted that the crew attempted to intercept the downwind leg without verifying their exact location, compounded by momentary inaccuracies in radio-direction finding indications.