The 2014 plane crash that killed Socialist Party presidential candidate Eduardo Campos was caused by pilot error in bad weather, Air Force investigators said Tuesday.
The Cessna business jet that departed Rio de Janeiro on August 13 that year "did not follow its charted route," said Lieutenant Raul de Souza, in charge of the probe into the crash.
"There is no evidence of any type of mechanical failure in what was found."
Campos was heading to a campaign rally when his plane crashed in bad weather into a residential area of the city of Santos, in southeastern Brazil.
All seven people aboard the jet died.
As the plane was descending, it made a left turn "for no known reason" and gave air control operators incorrect information on their position, de Souza said.
Investigators concluded that the pilots were "disoriented."
The weather was so bad it was "close to the minimum allowed to begin an approach" to the landing strip, read the report.
Although the pilot and co-pilot each had 20 years' experience, neither was properly trained to fly that model of plane.
An analysis of the voice recordings also showed that the co-pilot was showing signs of "fatigue and sleep deprivation, which may have contributed" to their performance.
The plane crashed two months before Brazil's presidential election.
Campos's vice president, Marina Silva, took his place and was defeated by President Dilma Rousseff, who was running for re-election.
The 2014 plane crash that killed Socialist Party presidential candidate Eduardo Campos was caused by pilot error in bad weather, Air Force investigators said Tuesday.
The Cessna business jet that departed Rio de Janeiro on August 13 that year “did not follow its charted route,” said Lieutenant Raul de Souza, in charge of the probe into the crash.
“There is no evidence of any type of mechanical failure in what was found.”
Campos was heading to a campaign rally when his plane crashed in bad weather into a residential area of the city of Santos, in southeastern Brazil.
All seven people aboard the jet died.
As the plane was descending, it made a left turn “for no known reason” and gave air control operators incorrect information on their position, de Souza said.
Investigators concluded that the pilots were “disoriented.”
The weather was so bad it was “close to the minimum allowed to begin an approach” to the landing strip, read the report.
Although the pilot and co-pilot each had 20 years’ experience, neither was properly trained to fly that model of plane.
An analysis of the voice recordings also showed that the co-pilot was showing signs of “fatigue and sleep deprivation, which may have contributed” to their performance.
The plane crashed two months before Brazil’s presidential election.
Campos’s vice president, Marina Silva, took his place and was defeated by President Dilma Rousseff, who was running for re-election.
