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VASP Curtiss C-46 PP-NMF accident

16 Aug 1964 · approx. 200 km south of Belém, Brazil

Viação Aérea São Paulo Curtiss C-46A-40-CU · The VASP Curtiss C-46 PP-NMF accident occurred on 16 August 1964

From Carolina Airport, Brazil to Val de Cans/Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport (BEL)

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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
1 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
Unknown
Occupants
Unknown
Survivors
3
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
Airline

Curtiss C-46A-40-CU

Aircraft type
Curtiss C-46
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-NMF
Onboard fatalities
1
Route
From Carolina Airport, BrazilTo Val de Cans/Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport (BEL)

Cause areas

  • Aircraft › Aircraft propeller/rotor

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

The VASP Curtiss C-46 PP-NMF accident occurred on 16 August 1964. On that day, a Curtiss C-46A-40-CU of Viação Aérea São Paulo, which was on a cargo flight from Carolina Airport to Belém Airport, had to ditch in the Capim River after an engine fire had occurred during the flight. One crew member died in the ditching.

Accident sequence

On the flight from Carolina to Belem, the C-46 experienced engine problems. The engine caught fire and exploded. The propeller of the affected engine could not be feathered. The Curtiss lost altitude, whereupon the crew felt compelled to jettison the cargo and ditch the aircraft on the Capim River. The C-46 sank within 15 minutes. One crew member who was not wearing a seat belt was killed on impact.

Investigation and cause

Cause

The cause of the accident was determined to be a failure of the propeller.

Translated into English with AI assistance from the German Wikipedia article “Flugunfall der Curtiss C-46 PP-NMF der VASP” (revision 268423107, retrieved 2026-09-19) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out; the translation may contain errors, and long articles were cut to their first 700 words. Read the article

Sources

German Wikipedia article: Flugunfall der Curtiss C-46 PP-NMF der VASP
Article
Flugunfall der Curtiss C-46 PP-NMF der VASP
Translation
Into English with AI assistance; names of linked operators and aircraft types from Wikidata. It may contain errors.
Revision
268423107 · 2026-07-02 · retrieved 2026-09-19
Wikidata
Q124467025
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
de Wikipedia article "Flugunfall der Curtiss C-46 PP-NMF der VASP" (page 12892570, revision 268423107), translated into English with AI assistance
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
Reviewed correction (2026-09-26): A VASP C-46 on a cargo flight between two Brazilian airports: an airline cargo flight. The article: "a Curtiss C-46A-40-CU of Viação Aérea São Paulo, which was on a cargo flight from Carolina Airport to Belém Airport"
Fatalities
Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
Ground fatalities
not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
Summary
Wikipedia article lead
Source notes (1)
  • Wikipedia · Facts from the German Wikipedia article's infobox, translated into English with AI assistance, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.