VASP Flight 233
Vickers 827 Viscount and Brazilian Air Force Fokker S-11 · Mid-air collision due to pilot error and route design flaw
Event
- 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
- Event fatalities
- 42 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- 10
- Occupants
- 33
- Survivors
- 1
- 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
- Unknown
- 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
- Military
Aircraft 1 · Vickers 827 Viscount
- Aircraft type
- Vickers 827
- 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
- PP-SRG
- Operator
- VASP
- Onboard fatalities
- 32
- Occupants
- 32
- 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
- None · no survivors
- Route
- From Presidente Juscelino Kubitschek International Airport (BSB)To Rio Grande do Norte/São Gonçalo do Amarante–Governador Aluízio Alves International Airport (NAT)
Aircraft 2 · Fokker S-11
- Aircraft type
- Fokker S-11
- 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
- 0742
- Operator
- Brazilian Air Force
- Onboard fatalities
- 0
- Occupants
- 1
- Survivors
- 1
- 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
- 1
- Route
- From Campo dos Afonsos, Rio de Janeiro, BrazilTo Campo dos Afonsos, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Cause areas
- Personnel issues › Task performance
- Personnel issues › Experience/knowledge
- Personnel issues › Action/decision
- Environmental issues › Operating environment
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Not plotted · Not plotted: the Wikipedia article gives no coordinates, and its site names no town or airport that matches exactly.
From the Wikipedia article
VASP Flight 233 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Brasilia, Brazil to Natal, Brazil with four stopovers (Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Salvador and Recife). On December 22, 1959, during the approach at Galeão International Airport, the plane collided with a Brazilian Air Force's (FAB) Fokker T-21. The Vickers Viscount plummeted into the ground, killing all 32 people on board in addition to 10 on the ground. The T-21 pilot survived by parachuting out.
Accident
When the Viscount was about to land at Galeão Airport at 1:40 pm, its left wing was struck and partially torn off by the T-21 - as it just had performed a spin. The T-21 pilot, Eduardo da Silva Pereira, successfully escaped in a parachute just before the aircraft plowed onto a house, causing minor injuries to a woman.
Meanwhile, the Viscount spiraled into the ground despite the crew's efforts. Upon impact, the plane struck into several houses and exploded afterwards. 42 people (26 passengers, 6 crew members, 10 on the ground) perished.
Among the dead were:
Writer Octávio Tarquínio de Sousa and his wife Lucia Miguel Pereira;
Economist Benjamin Cabello;
O Cruzeiro reporter Luciano Carneiro.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
The Brazilian Air Force and Aeronautical Accidents Investigation and Prevention Center (CENIPA) investigated the tragedy with total confidentiality. It was found that:
The Fokker T-21 lacked a radio, preventing communication with controllers at Galeão Airport.
The pilot of the T-21 was inexperienced, having only 19 hours of flight time. He also invaded an airway designed for commercial aviation.
The improperly located training area caused confusion to the pilots.
However, the investigators concluded that the main cause of the accident was the failure of both pilots to maintain adequate vigilance over other aircraft.
Text from the Wikipedia article “VASP Flight 233” (revision 1370874514, 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: VASP Flight 233
- Article
- VASP Flight 233
- Revision
- 1370874514 · 2026-08-23 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q10265410
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "VASP Flight 233" (page 83337598, revision 1370874514)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- none
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- operator named as an armed force or military unit in the infobox
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: total_fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: ground fatalities
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.