1951 Douglas C-47 PP-LPG accident

The Aracaju air disaster was an air accident that occurred on 12 July 1951. While carrying out instrument landing procedures, a Douglas C-47 Skytrain of the company Linhas Aéreas Paulistas struck a tree located 3 km from the runway of the old Aracaju-SE landing field, now the Sergiipe Aeroclub (ICAO: SISG), located in the Santos Dumont neighbourhood (Aracaju), in the northern part of the capital of Sergipe. All 33 occupants of the aircraft died in the crash.

Accident

The Douglas C-47 took off early in the morning from Natal airport. After making brief stopovers in Recife and Maceió, it was preparing for the next stopover in Aracaju. It was raining heavily in the capital of Sergipe, which made landing difficult. Because of the unfavourable weather conditions, the crew chose to make a landing guided by instruments and NDB. At 9h, during the landing attempt, one of the aircraft's wings struck a tree located on the banks of the Rio do Sal, about 3 km from the runway threshold. With the impact, the aircraft fell to the ground, breaking apart immediately afterwards. The five crew members and twenty-eight passengers died instantly.. Among the passengers killed was the governor of Rio Grande do Norte, Jerônimo Dix-sept Rosado Maia. Because of the heavy rain and because the crash area was difficult to access, rescue teams reached the wreckage area only 11 hours after the crash.

I report that aircraft PP-LPG, after flying over this field at 8:30, fell into the rio do sal at a farmhouse three kilometres from the airport, all crew members and passengers having perished, the numbers being unknown since the dead are trapped in the wreckage. Aircraft completely damaged. – (signed) Capt. Miranda.

The death of governor Dix-Sept Rosado caused great commotion in Rio Grande do Norte, and he was buried with the honours of a head of state. His journey to Rio was official, and its purpose was to sign an agreement with the Banco do Brasil for the execution of works to improve sanitation in Natal. Thirteen days after his death, the Mossoró district of Sebastianópolis was given the name Governador Dix-Sept Rosado. Years later the district would be elevated to the status of a municipality.

After the Second World War, national aviation grew at a dizzying pace, while investment in modern navigation equipment and in training technical personnel did not keep pace with this growth. With air navigation based on obsolete equipment and on the fragility of the NDB (which was susceptible to failures due to electromagnetic interference caused by lightning, radio antennas, etc.) and obsolete aeronautical charts, as well as poorly trained crews pressured to meet ever tighter schedules, accidents became frequent. This, however, did not prevent the growth of national aviation.

This was the fifth aircraft lost in an accident by Linhas Aéreas Paulistas in its 7 years of operation, attesting to the precariousness of its operations. As a result only two aircraft remained, which prevented it from fulfilling its concession. Thus, the Aracaju air disaster caused the bankruptcy of the company, whose remaining aircraft were acquired by Lóide Aéreo Nacional.

SILVA, Carlos Ari Cesar Germano da; O rastro da bruxa: história da aviação comercial brasileira no século XX através dos seus acidentes''; Porto Alegre Editora EDIPUCRS, 2008, pp 108-111.