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Barra do Garças air disaster

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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. 10:00 a.m. local[1] (UTC-04:00)
TargetHotel Presidente
Attack type
Attempted suicide attack, suicide by pilot
WeaponsThe Embraer EMB-721 Sertanejo series single-engine aircraft
Deaths
  • 8 in total
    • 6 victims
    • 1 perpetrator
    • 1 indirect by suicide
Injured4
PerpetratorMauro Milhomem

The Barra do Garças air disaster was a suicide attack that occurred in Barra do Garças, Mato Grosso, 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 people and himself and wounding four others. This incident is possibly one of the first cases of suicide by pilot in Brazil.

Background

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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

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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

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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. She was shunned and harassed by the locals who accused her of being the one who caused the tragedy.[4]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 234812 - Embraer EMB-721C Sertanejo PT-EGI 01-JUN-1980". Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Morrem feridos no acidente" [Injured people die in an accident]. Folha de S. Paulo (in Brazilian Portuguese). 1980-06-05.
  3. ^ a b "Cinco mortos no choque do "Sertanejo"" [Five dead people in the "Sertanejo" shock]. Folha de S. Paulo (in Brazilian Portuguese). 1980-06-03.
  4. ^ "Mulher se mata depois do marido se suicidar" [Woman kills herself after her husband committed suicide]. Tribuna da Imprensa (in Brazilian Portuguese). 1980-06-06. Archived from the original on 2022-04-30.
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