Four people have lost their lives this Saturday after the helicopter they were traveling in crashed in a hard-to-reach area of Vista Chinesa, in the Alto da Boa Vista neighborhood, in Rio de Janeiro. Among the victims are the pilot and three Colombian tourists belonging to the same family, according to the Brazilian newspaper "O Globo".
The accident occurred throughout the morning, when the aircraft, a Robinson R44 model operated by the company Voos Rio Panorâmico e Serviços Aeronáuticos Ltda., crashed in an area of dense vegetation near Vista Chinesa. Emergency teams received the alert at 11:11 a.m. (local time).
Local authorities have confirmed the death of the four occupants of the helicopter, whose bodies were burned due to the impact and the subsequent fire.
The victims have been identified as Alessandro Rocha, the pilot, and Colombian tourists Rocío Cubillos (59), Sofía Murillo (17), and Wendy Manrique (37).
According to the aforementioned media, the Colombian family was made up of six people who had arrived in Rio last Monday with the intention of staying in the city until next Tuesday.
The six relatives had booked a panoramic flight to view the city from the air for about 4,400 Brazilian reais, but decided to split into two groups to make the trip.
The three women who ultimately died took off around 10:40 a.m., while the other three relatives stayed on the ground waiting for the helicopter's return.
After the accident, members of the Air Operations Group of the Fire Department located the crashed aircraft and recovered the bodies using a hoisting system. They were subsequently transported by a zip line before being sent to the Institute of Legal Medicine (IML).
One of the relatives told "O'Globo" that at the beginning of the flight — while waiting on the ground — he maintained contact via messages with his loved ones, but communication was suddenly interrupted when his sister stopped responding.
Later, he heard workers in the area comment that the pilot had been forced to make an emergency landing and, about an hour later, he learned of the confirmation of the accident through the media.
The pilot, also deceased at the scene, had accumulated almost twenty years of experience as a pilot and instructor of ultralights and helicopters, something he showcased on his social media, filled with photographs and videos of his flights.
The crashed helicopter was equipped with a camera to record the tourist routes. The device has been recovered by the emergency teams and will undergo a forensic analysis in order to determine if it contains images that help clarify what happened before the crash.
For now, the authorities have not determined the causes of the accident, which marks the fifth fatal accident in a year in the state of Rio de Janeiro.
Review of safety in scenic flights
The mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Cavaliere, has traveled to the accident site and has called for an immediate intervention from the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC), even suggesting the possibility of temporarily halting scenic flights in the city while safety conditions are reviewed.
"This cannot be considered normal. I made sure to call the president of Anac and we immediately sent a statement from the Mayor's Office of Rio for them to take measures regarding flights in Rio de Janeiro. Anac will have to make a decision and speak out. It could even be considered the possibility of suspending scenic flights for a week, two weeks, or however long is necessary to conduct a more thorough inspection of the helipads, the aircraft, and their maintenance," he declared in statements reported by the same outlet.
The National Civil Aviation Agency, for its part, has expressed its condolences for the accident and has stated that "it is in contact with the Mayor's Office of Rio de Janeiro to jointly carry out the supervision, especially of scenic flights."