| Paraná da Eva Panair do Brasil Lockheed Constellation crash | |
| Occurrence Type: | Accident |
| Date: | 14 December 1962 |
| Summary: | Unknown causes[1] |
| Site: | near Rio Preto da Eva, Amazonas, Brazil |
| Aircraft Type: | Lockheed Constellation |
| Operator: | Panair do Brasil |
| Tail Number: | PP-PDE |
| Origin: | Aeroporto Santos Dumont, Rio de Janeiro |
| Stopover0: | Santa Maria Airport, Aracaju |
| Stopover1: | Campo dos Palmares Airport, Maceió |
| Stopover2: | Guararapes Airport, Recife |
| Stopover3: | Presidente Castro Pinto International Airport, João Pessoa |
| Stopover4: | Augusto Severo Airport, Natal |
| Stopover5: | Fortaleza Airport, Fortaleza |
| Last Stopover: | Tirirical Airport, São Luís – Belém/Val-de-Cans International Airport, Belém |
| Destination: | Ponta Pelada Airport, Manaus |
| Occupants: | 50 |
| Passengers: | 44 |
| Crew: | 6 |
| Fatalities: | 50 |
| Survivors: | 0 |
The 1962 Paraná da Eva Panair do Brasil Lockheed Constellation crash was a fatal aviation accident that occurred near Manaus, Brazil, in the early hours of 14 December 1962. The aircraft, a Lockheed L-049 Constellation operated by Panair do Brasil, disappeared during its final approach to Ponta Pelada Airport after departing from Belém. After an extensive search and rescue operation by the Brazilian Air Force, the wreckage was located the following day, with no survivors among the 50 people on board. The cause of the crash remains unknown, marking it as one of the final incidents in Panair do Brasil's history before the airline's closure.[2] [3]
The aircraft involved was a Lockheed L-049 Constellation, registered as PP-PDE, with serial number 2047.[4]
The incident began when the Panair do Brasil Constellation PP-PDE took off from Santos Dumont Airport on the morning of 13 December 1962. The flight made several stops in different cities before departing from Belém towards its final destination, Manaus. In the early hours of 14 December, during its final approach to Ponta Pelada Airport, the crew requested that the runway lights be activated. Shortly after, contact with the aircraft was lost.
Upon realizing the disappearance, the Brazilian Air Force's Aeroterrestrial Rescue Squadron (PARA-SAR) was deployed to conduct search operations in the Manaus region. The wreckage of the aircraft was discovered by a PARA-SAR plane on the morning of 15 December, near Rio Preto da Eva, approximately 30 km from Manaus. Due to the difficult terrain and the discovery of part of the fuselage intact, rescuers initially held out hope of finding survivors. A ground team consisting of doctors, engineers, Panair employees, Petrobras workers, and soldiers reached the crash site on 20 December. However, no survivors were found among the 44 passengers and 6 crew members on board.[5]
Various theories were suggested to explain the cause of the crash, including mechanical failure and controlled flight into terrain, but the precise cause was never determined. This accident was the last involving a Panair do Brasil aircraft. A few years later, the airline was shut down by Brazil's military regime, with its routes being transferred to Varig and its aircraft redistributed to other airlines or scrapped.[6]