Botafogo Cove air disaster
VASP Junkers Ju 52 and Shell-Mex & BP da Argentina de Havilland DH.90 Dragonfly · Mid-air collision, pilot error
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
- 19 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Unknown
- 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
- 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
Aircraft 1 · Junkers Ju 52
- Aircraft type
- Junkers JU-52
- 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 SPF
- Operator
- VASP
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Not stated
- 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 Santos Dumont Airport (SDU)To Congonhas–Deputado Freitas Nobre Airport (CGH)
Aircraft 2 · de Havilland DH.90 Dragonfly
- Aircraft type
- de Havilland DH-90
- 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
- LV-KAB
- Operator
- Shell-Mex & BP da Argentina
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Not stated
- 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 Buenos AiresTo Rio de Janeiro
Approximate · Estimated position: Botafogo, the place the Wikipedia article names. Not the accident site.
From the Wikipedia article
The Botafogo Cove air disaster occurred on 8 November 1940, when a VASP Junkers Ju 52 (Flight 4752 of the Rio–São Paulo air shuttle) was struck by a de Havilland DH.90 Dragonfly of Shell-Mex Argentina over Botafogo Cove, where the two aircraft ended up falling, killing all their passengers and crew.
The accident
VASP flight 4752 had taken off at 14:30 from Santos Dummont airport and was heading for Congonhas Airport in São Paulo, where it would arrive at around 15:45.
The de Havilland DH.90 Dragonfly, registration LV-KAB – Gavilan, de la selva of the company Shell-Mex & BP was flying over Rio de Janeiro accompanied by a squadron of Argentine aircraft. They were to take part in the Wing Week celebrations at the Fluminense Yacht Club.
At 14:35 it collided with the de Havilland DH.90 Dragonfly, registration LV-KAB – ‘’ Gavilan, de la selva’’ of the company Shell-Mex & BP.
According to witnesses, the yellow Dragonfly was carrying out approach manoeuvres (or aerobatics) to land on the runway of the Fluminense Yacht Club when it entered the path of VASP's Junkers PP SPF, striking its right wing, which separated from the fuselage. After the collision, both aircraft fell into Botafogo Cove.
While the Junkers 52 fell into Guanabara Bay, instantly killing all its passengers, the de Havilland lost control, hitting trees along the waterfront until its wreckage fell on the building of a grocery shop located at No. 154 Praia de Botafogo. The impact of the Dragonfly's fall was so strong that the body of the British pilot was thrown into the courtyard of the Colégio Juruena school.
Among the passengers killed in the disaster were the physician and scientist Evandro Chagas, the technical director of the São Paulo Department of Statistics Dr. Gustavo Godoy Filho, the Norwegian consul in Santos Alexander Stattel Grieg, the British diplomat Edouard Pengelly, and the Cuban ambassador to Brazil, Alfonso Hernández Catá.
Translated into English with AI assistance from the Portuguese Wikipedia article “Desastre aéreo da enseada de Botafogo” (revision 72088077, 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
Portuguese Wikipedia article: Desastre aéreo da enseada de Botafogo
- Translation
- Into English with AI assistance; names of linked operators and aircraft types from Wikidata. It may contain errors.
- Revision
- 72088077 · 2026-04-16 · retrieved 2026-09-19
- Wikidata
- Q10265406
- 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
- pt Wikipedia article "Desastre aéreo da enseada de Botafogo" (page 3507052, revision 72088077), translated into English with AI assistance
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site; country from Wikidata (P17)
- Map position
- place the Wikipedia infobox site links (Wikidata coordinates)
- 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 is an airline according to Wikidata
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: total_fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Portuguese Wikipedia article's infobox, translated into English with AI assistance, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.