2021 Paraguayan Air Force Cessna 402 crash

On Tuesday, February 9, 2021, at 2:29 PM, a Cessna 402 aircraft, registration number 0221, belonging to the Space Transport Air Group (GATE) of the Paraguayan Air Force, was reported to have crashed. The plane, carrying 8 people, crashed on the grounds of Ñu Guasu Air Base, in the city of Luque, Gran Asunción. Of the eight occupants on board the aircraft, the pilot and six passengers were killed, while one passenger on board the plane survived, who was left in critical condition.

Events

The small plane took off from the town of Fuerte Olimpo, 761 kilometers from the Paraguayan capital, Asunción. He was scheduled to land at Silvio Pettirossi International Airport. The crew was in contact with the control tower for the last time minutes before crashing, without reporting any problem during the flight.

The aircraft carried soldiers that had worked in a survey of the perimeter of Fuerte Olimpo Airport. This after last week an accident almost occurred by an animal accessing the runway. In contrast, the sole survivor had boarded the small plane as a courtesy from the military to get to Asunción faster, where he had to take an exam.

The air traffic control tower reported having communicated with the pilot one minute before the accident, telling him that he was approaching the landing runway (final of basic 02) at Silvio Pettirossi International Airport.

It was speculated that one of the Cessna's engines stopped during the approach, causing the plane to plummet. Security cameras surrounding the incident site show the left engine failing, which is why the aircraft is seen making a violent turn to the left, crashing into the ground, falling over three vehicles that were parked in a concrete parking lot adjacent to the grass. The impact was followed by an explosion. The aircraft crashed in a parking lot of the Fuerza Aérea Paraguaya Command at the Ñu Guasu air base, adjacent to the south of Silvio Pettirossi International Airport

According to preliminary autopsies, it was the impact that instantly ended the lives of 7 of the 8 people on board, as a result of the trauma and bruising from the crash. As previously mentioned, a civilian student was the sole survivor and was taken with serious injuries to the Trauma Hospital in Asunción.