Barra do Garças air disaster

The Barra do Garças air disaster was a suicide attack that occurred in Barra do Garças, Mato Grosso in Brazil on June 1, 1980, when pilot Mauro Milhomem attempted to crash a single-engine aircraft into the Hotel Presidente owned by his mother-in-law, killing six persons and himself and wounding four others. This incident is possibly one of the first cases of suicide by pilot in Brazil.

Barra do Garças air disaster
An Embraer EMB-721C Sertanejo similar to the incident aircraft
LocationBarra do Garças, Mato Grosso, Brazil
DateJune 1, 1980
approx. 10.00am local[1] (UTC-04:00)
TargetHotel Presidente
Attack type
Attempted suicide attack, suicide by pilot
WeaponsSingle-engine aircraft
Deaths
  • 8 in total
    • 6 victims
    • 1 perpetrator
    • 1 indirect by suicide
Injured4
PerpetratorMauro Milhomem

Background

Prior to the crash, Milhomem had an argument with his wife, after he determined that she had been unfaithful to him; Milhomem threatened to crash a plane into the hotel owned by his wife's mother.[2]

Crash

On June 1, 1980, Milhomem, a pilot for the air taxi service Táxi Aereo Garapu, flew an Embraer EMB Sertanejo-721 single-engine airplane registered as PT-EGI with four passengers inside it to the Hotel Presidente where his wife was residing, and attempted to hit the hotel; he failed to control the aircraft and instead hit a tree, several utility poles, and ultimately a two-story building, and finally crashed into an accounting office.[3][2]

In addition to Milhomem, three people died immediately;[2] another died while being transported to Goiânia, and two more died within the two days following the crash. Four people were injured, two seriously, and were treated in a Barra do Garças hospital.[2]

Aftermath

Initially Aldirio Oliveira Vieira, an official of the Brazilian airport authority Infraero, said that the plane had been flying at a low altitude around the building, struck a utility pole with its right wing rupturing its gasoline tank, hit a second pole, and then crashed into an accounting office.[3] It was later determined that the pilot, Milhomem, had attempted unsuccessfully to execute a kamikaze-style attack on the hotel building which his mother-in-law owned.[2]

Milhomem's wife, Angela Milhomem, allegedly committed suicide a few days after the crash.[4]

See also

References
  1. "ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 234812 - Embraer EMB-721C Sertanejo PT-EGI 01-JUN-1980". Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  2. Morrem feridos no acidente, Folha de S.Paulo (June 5, 1980)
  3. Cinco mortos no choque do "Sertanejo", Folha de S.Paulo (June 3, 1980)
  4. Mulher se mata depois do marido se suicidar, Tribuna da Imprensa (June 6, 1980)
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