Crash of the DC-3 PP-ANX

The crash of the DC-3 PP-ANX refers to an air accident that occurred in São Paulo, Brazil, on 10 April 1957. Operated by the Real-Aerovias-Nacional consortium, the Douglas DC-3 registered PP-ANX was operating the 17:30 Rio – São Paulo flight, scheduled to land in the São Paulo state capital at 19h. However, a failure in one of the engines forced the pilot to attempt an emergency landing in Ubatuba. Facing adverse weather conditions, the DC-3 PP-ANX ended up striking the slope of Pico dos Papagaios, on Anchieta Island. Of the 26 passengers and 4 crew members on board the aircraft, only 1 crew member and 3 passengers survived.

Accident

The Douglas DC-3 registered PP-AXN of the REAL-Aerovias–Nacional consortium took off from Santos Dumont airport, Rio de Janeiro, at 17:30 on 10 April 1957. The flight was bound for Congonhas airport, São Paulo, and was full because of the cancellation of the previous 15:00 flight, which would have stopped in Santos before landing at Congonhas.

The bad weather in the Baixada Santista region that had prevented the 15:00 flight from operating further complicated conditions for the 17:30 flight. Scheduled to land at 19:00 at Congonhas, the DC-3 PP-AXN would encounter bad weather at the Rio–São Paulo state border. At around 18:00, while flying over the Ubatuba region at cruising speed, the left engine failed and then caught fire. After fruitless attempts to fight the fire, which was growing and threatening the safety of the flight, the crew made a distress call and reported that they would try to land on a beach on the Ubatuba coast.

However, the bad weather obscured the crew's view, so that the aircraft was flying dangerously over Anchieta Island. When the crew discovered they were about to strike the slope of Pico dos Papagaios, they tried to divert the aircraft from the Pico's path. The aircraft, however, had only one of its engines operating and did not have enough power to respond to the controls; it lost lift and struck the slope of Pico dos Papagaios at around 18:20.

The impact of the aircraft with the trees on the slope separated the wings from the fuselage, saving the lives of 3 passengers and 1 crew member, while 23 passengers and 3 crew members died from multiple injuries from the impact and/or were burned by the fuel.