Crash of a Lockheed 18-10 LodeStar near São Francisco de Assis: 12 killed
Date & Time:
Jul 30, 1950 at 1300 LT
Operator:
Registration:
PP-SAA
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Porto Alegre – São Borja
MSN:
18-2133
YOM:
1941
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
10
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
12
Circumstances:
The twin engine aircraft left Porto Alegre around 1100LT bound for São Borja with an IFR flight plan filed at an altitude of 4,500 feet. Few minutes later, the captain requested to continue in VFR when he encountered poor visibility. The aircraft christened 'São Pedro do Rio Grande' was flying in clouds when it hit the slope of the Cerro Cortelini located near São Francisco de Assis. All 12 occupants were killed, among them Gustavo Ernesto de Carvalho Kraemer, captain and founder of the Sociedade Anônima Viação Aérea Gaúcha (SAVAG) and Joaquim Pedro Salgado Filho, senator and ex Minister of Aviation. They were returning to São Borja after they visited the site where a Panair Constellation crashed two days earlier.
Probable cause:
Controlled flight into terrain.
