Tue, November 03, 2009
BRASILIA, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian Air Force (FAB) reported on Tuesday that more than 17 soldiers arrived to the spot where the FAB aircraft crashed on Thursday (29), after an emergency landing near the river Itui in the Amazon region. Soldiers will begin the operation to remove the plane through steel cables.
The aircraft, a C-98 Caravan, carried four soldiers and seven officials of the National Health Foundation (Funasa) to undertake an immunization campaign in indigenous communities in that region. Two people died and nine managed to escape alive. Survivors have been found by Matis Indians, who live nearby.
The aircraft is 6 feet deep, in a place where many currents and murky waters can be observed. The crew, commanded by Lieutenant Ottone Carlos Veiga, airplane pilot, said on Monday during a press conference that they do not known exactly what has impeached the two victims from saving their lives.
During the conference, the pilot also explained that from the moment the engine has failed to the moment of landing, it took no more than five minutes.
According to the pilot, survivors got out of the plane through the front door while the officer who died, Joao de Abreu Filho, tried to leave through the back door. The other victim, Petty Officer Marcelo Dias Dos Santos, failed to swim against the current when the group has crossed the river.
The objective of rescuing the aircraft wreckage is to gather information, which will contribute to clarify the reasons of the accident, reported the Center for Investigation and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents.
