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1959 crash of the SAAB Scandia PP-SQV

23 Sept 1959 · Vila Clara, Jabaquara, São Paulo

VASP Saab 90 Scandia

From Congonhas–Deputado Freitas Nobre Airport (CGH) to Santos Dumont Airport (SDU)

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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
20 · 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

Saab 90 Scandia

Aircraft type
Saab 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
PP-SQV
Operator
VASP
Onboard fatalities
20
Route
From Congonhas–Deputado Freitas Nobre Airport (CGH)To Santos Dumont Airport (SDU)

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 1959 crash of the SAAB Scandia PP-SQV was a serious air accident that occurred on 23 September 1959, near Congonhas airport, São Paulo. This accident caused the deaths of all 20 occupants of the aircraft.

Accident

The SAAB Scandia PP-SQV was prepared to operate the 18:30 flight of the Rio–São Paulo air shuttle. After a delay, the aircraft took off from runway 16 of Congonhas airport at 18:49 on 23 September 1959. Carrying 16 passengers and 4 crew members, the aircraft was flown by captain Renart da Cunha Borba.

After taking off, the aircraft yawed to the right, losing height, and a minute and a half later, flying low, it struck a rise in the ground, gaining a little height until it struck a small eucalyptus wood, exploding immediately afterwards. The explosion, followed by a large fire, burned all the occupants of the aircraft to death. Among the passengers killed was the engineer Orlando Drumont Murgel, director of the Sorocabana Railway.

Because of the proximity of the crash area, the rescue teams arrived quickly, but all the occupants were dead. The arrival of members of the public at the crash site hindered the recovery of the bodies, and some people were arrested by the police when they tried to loot the wreckage.

Translated into English with AI assistance from the Portuguese Wikipedia article “Queda do SAAB Scandia prefixo PP-SQV em 1959” (revision 69364783, 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: Queda do SAAB Scandia prefixo PP-SQV em 1959
Article
Queda do SAAB Scandia prefixo PP-SQV em 1959
Translation
Into English with AI assistance; names of linked operators and aircraft types from Wikidata. It may contain errors.
Revision
69364783 · 2025-01-15 · retrieved 2026-09-19
Wikidata
Q10356055
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 "Queda do SAAB Scandia prefixo PP-SQV em 1959" (page 3879545, revision 69364783), translated into English with AI assistance
Date
Wikipedia infobox: date
Place and country
Wikipedia infobox: site; country from Wikidata (P17)
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): The VASP aircraft was operating a timetabled Rio–São Paulo air shuttle flight with 16 passengers: an airline flight. The article: "The SAAB Scandia PP-SQV was prepared to operate the 18:30 flight of the Rio–São Paulo air shuttle."
Fatalities
Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
Ground fatalities
not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
Summary
Wikipedia article lead
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.