2007 Reali Táxi Aéreo Learjet 35 crash
Learjet 35A · Loss of control after takeoff due to pilot error
From Campo de Marte Airport (RTE) to Santos Dumont Airport (SDU)
Event
- NTSB case
- MIA08RA013
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Unknown · led by another country; figures from NTSB notifications
- Event fatalities
- 8 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- 6
- Occupants
- 2
- Survivors
- 0
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- 0 serious · 0 minor (NTSB)
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Charter & commuter
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Not recorded
Learjet 35A
- Aircraft type
- Learjet 35
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- PT-OVC
- Operator
- Reali Táxi Aéreo
- Onboard fatalities
- 2
- Route
- From Campo de Marte Airport (RTE)To Santos Dumont Airport (SDU)
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Non-U.S., Non-Commercial
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Not recorded
- Defining eventThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Not recorded
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Not recorded
Cause areas
- Personnel issues › Task performance
- Personnel issues › Miscellaneous
- Personnel issues › Psychological
- Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
The 2007 Reali Táxi Aéreo Learjet 35 crash was a fatal aviation accident involving a business jet operated by Brazilian charter airline Reali Táxi Aéreo. On 4 November 2007, a Learjet 35A aircraft registered as PT-OVC crashed shortly after takeoff from Campo de Marte Airport in São Paulo, Brazil. Both crew members on board were killed, along with six people on the ground. Reali Táxi Aéreo was among the first companies in Brazil to be certified for aeromedical evacuation operations.
Accident
On 3 November 2007, a Learjet 35A operated by Reali Táxi Aéreo crashed into a residential neighborhood in São Paulo, Brazil, shortly after departing from Campo de Marte Airport. The aircraft was en route to Santos Dumont Airport in Rio de Janeiro and carried two crew members. Both pilots died in the crash, along with six people on the ground; several homes were also damaged or destroyed.
Shortly after takeoff, the aircraft began a left turn at low altitude and subsequently entered a steep descent. Witnesses reported that the Learjet hit the roof of a house before impacting another, leading to a fireball that engulfed several buildings. According to reports, just seconds before impact, the first officer was heard screaming, "No, no, no, man!" as the aircraft descended toward a group of homes. Earlier in the flight, the captain had requested, "Fix that fuel for me," as the aircraft climbed away from the airport.
A reconstruction of the timeline by Poder Aéreo citing forensic investigators indicated that the flight crew failed to follow standard fuel management procedures prior to takeoff. An imbalance in the fuel tanks resulted in asymmetric thrust and loss of aerodynamic stability shortly after liftoff. As the aircraft veered left and began to stall, the captain reportedly exclaimed, "What did you do!?" before the jet struck the rooftops and exploded.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
The Brazilian Aeronautical Accidents Investigation and Prevention Center (CENIPA) concluded that the accident was caused by a loss of control shortly after takeoff due to a fuel imbalance, which led to asymmetric thrust and aerodynamic instability. The pilots failed to complete a standard checklist verifying fuel distribution, resulting in uncoordinated flight control inputs during the climb-out phase.
The probable cause of the accident was stated as follows:
Loss of control in flight due to asymmetric fuel distribution that adversely affected the aircraft's balance, compounded by inadequate crew coordination and omission of checklist procedures.
The contributing factors were identified as:
Omission of the pre-flight checklist item related to fuel balancing, a critical safety step.
The commander assuming multiple tasks, resulting in poor distribution of cockpit responsibilities.
Excessive confidence in routine operations, which led to procedural shortcuts.
Loss of situational awareness due to distractions and lack of effective crew coordination.
Improper pitch control after takeoff, leading to an excessive nose-up attitude and aerodynamic stall.
Additional findings were reported by other investigators:
A 2009 technical report noted that the aircraft had a severe imbalance of over 400 liters of fuel between the wing tanks at the time of takeoff.
A timeline reconstruction indicated that the aircraft banked left within 20 seconds after departure. The first officer was heard panicking, and the captain questioned the aircraft's control response moments before the crash.
A contemporaneous news article stated that CENIPA ruled out any mechanical failure and confirmed pilot error as the primary factor.
Text from the Wikipedia article “2007 Reali Táxi Aéreo Learjet 35 crash” (revision 1342161659, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: 2007 Reali Táxi Aéreo Learjet 35 crash
- Revision
- 1342161659 · 2026-03-07 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q136386599
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
NTSB record MIA08RA013
- Event ID
- 20071119X01811
- Case number
- MIA08RA013
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "2007 Reali Táxi Aéreo Learjet 35 crash" (page 80546998, revision 1342161659); merged with NTSB case MIA08RA013 (events / aircraft)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- Wikipedia: Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports); gaps and aircraft details from NTSB record MIA08RA013
- Operation
- Reviewed correction (2026-09-26): A Learjet of an air taxi and charter company: an on-demand air taxi operation. The article: "involving a business jet operated by Brazilian charter airline Reali Táxi Aéreo"
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia: Wikipedia infobox: total_fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- Wikipedia: Wikipedia infobox: ground fatalities
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- One occurrence in two sources, merged: the Wikipedia article "2007 Reali Táxi Aéreo Learjet 35 crash" and NTSB case MIA08RA013, matched by the same aircraft registration and date. For this event outside the United States Wikipedia's values are used where the two differ; each value names its source.