Paraibuna

The Scandia aircraft was flying a scheduled domestic service from Congonhas Airport (São Paulo) to Santos Dumont (Rio de Janeiro). It left Congonhas at 1144 GMT on an instrument flight plan and was flying Airway AB-6 at the approved cruising altitude of 2,400 m. Five crew and 18 passengers were aboard. The flight advised of its progress en route and at 1203 hours was abeam São José dos Campos, estimating Ubatuba at 1214 hours. When it did not report Ubatuba as expected, an alert message was sent at 1242 hours. The Cessna had taken off from Santos Dumont at 1111 GMT en route to Campo de Marte in São Paulo. It was flying the same airway in the opposite direction on a VFR flight plan and carried 4 persons. Following its last contact with Santos Dumont it did not report its position. The alert phase was declared at 1251 hours, thirty minutes after its estimated time of arrival at Campo de Marte. It was learned later by the Inquiry that the sound of the two aircraft collided was heard, and eye witnesses saw them fall, at approximately 1209 hours.