Lóide Aéreo Nacional Flight 652

Lóide Aéreo Nacional Flight 652 was a domestic passenger flight from Rio de Janeiro to Fortaleza, Brazil, with intermediate stopovers in Vitória, Ilhéus, Salvador, Aracaju, Maceió, Recife, Natal, and Campina Grande. On 5 September 1958, the Curtiss C-46 operating the flight crashed into the ground, killing 13 (11 passengers and 2 crew members) of the 40 people on board.

Accident

Due to the rainy and overcast weather, with impaired visibility, several unsuccessful landing attempts were made at the then Campina Grande Airport. On the final approach, the aircraft was flying below the approach ceiling and crashed into the ground, on a field on the left bank of the Trans-Amazonian Highway, in Bodocongó. Among the dead were the pilot and the radio operator, a doctor, an architect and a manager of Banco do Brasil. One of the survivors of the accident was then law student Renato Aragão. The crew brought the plane up to 750 meters (2,460 feet). Upon reaching this altitude, they made a turn above the station, intercepting the outbound track. The captain maintained altitude up to the end of the base turn, when, starting the return, on heading 200 degrees, he began to descend, turning on the aircraft lights. The co-pilot was still unable to obtain visual reference. The plane then crashed into the ground.

The victims were rescued by the Fire Department and taken to Pedro I Hospital, regional emergency rooms and Ipase, in serious condition. Due to the difficult access to the location, the firefighters' rescue work was extremely challenging. Some of the aircraft wreckage was stolen by local residents near the crash site.

A memorial shrine was built at the site of the accident.