Nighttime Single-Engine Aircraft Crash Off Campeche Island (PP-LIG)

Flight Details and Accident Sequence A single-engine aircraft departed Florianópolis-Hercilio Luz Airport at 0515 local time on a private flight to Ji-Paraná. The aircraft was carrying one pilot and one passenger. During a nighttime climb at an altitude of 3,600 feet, the pilot initiated a right turn. The aircraft subsequently completed a 360-degree turn and crashed into the sea off Campeche Island. Both occupants were killed. ## Search and Recovery Few debris were found floating on the water the following morning. The main wreckage was located two weeks after the accident. ## Official Findings The investigation identified several contributing factors, all marked as undetermined. The main hypothesis was spatial disorientation of the disabling type, suggesting the pilot may have reached a state of complete inability to operate the aircraft controls correctly to regain control of the flight. Conditions favorable to disorientation included night flight over the sea, flight within clouds, manual operation, and the dynamics of the aircraft trajectory recorded by radar. The investigation also noted the possibility of visual illusions, as the pilot may have confused spatial references while flying over the sea at night in darkness and cloudiness, without seeing lighting on land. Additional undetermined factors included attitude, where high subordination to the requests of the pilot's boss may have made it difficult for the pilot to position himself in relation to his limitations in flying at night and in instrument flight meteorological conditions. Instruction was also cited, with the possibility that lack of familiarity with the English language made it difficult to some degree to understand the resources, equipment, and systems present in the aircraft, as well as the instruction received in a flight simulator.