Brazil Police Plane Crash Kills 3 Officers in Minas
BRAZIL · SAFETY
Key Facts
- —The country Brazil is Latin America’s largest country, and Minas Gerais is an inland state north of Rio de Janeiro whose capital is Belo Horizonte.
- —What happened A police plane crashed near Ipatinga’s airport on Friday afternoon, 9 October, killing all three officers aboard.
- —The aircraft A US-designed, twin-engine Beechcraft King Air 300 built in 1986, registration PP-EJO, owned by the state’s Military Police.
- —The victims Lieutenant Colonel Luiz Fernando Silvestre, 49, the instructor, and Lieutenants Gabriela Emília Soares Lacerda Resende, 35, and Alice dos Santos Oliveira Almeida, 34.
- —Same day Around 11:15 a.m., a small private plane crashed into the Belo Horizonte metro’s maintenance yard, killing its pilot, the only person on board.
- —Still open Air Force crash investigators are examining both accidents, and no cause has been given for either.
A Brazil police plane crash killed three Military Police officers in Minas Gerais state on Friday, 9 October, during a mandatory pilot training flight. Their twin-engine King Air 300, a US-designed Beechcraft model built in 1986, went down near Ipatinga’s regional airport.
Hours earlier, a small private plane crashed into the Belo Horizonte metro’s maintenance yard, killing its pilot. The state declared three days of official mourning for the officers, and Brazilian Air Force investigators are examining both accidents.
What Happened Near Ipatinga
The aircraft belonged to the Military Police of Minas Gerais (PMMG), the state’s uniformed police force. It left Pampulha Airport in Belo Horizonte at about 3:15 p.m. and was due in Ipatinga at 4 p.m., Metrópoles reported.
Firefighters were called to the police plane crash at about 4:20 p.m. (3:20 p.m. ET), at kilometre 43 of the BR-458 highway. The site lies near the airport in Santana do Paraíso, next to Ipatinga in the Vale do Aço, or Steel Valley.
ANAC, Brazil’s civil aviation agency, lists the plane, registration PP-EJO, as a King Air 300 built in 1986 and owned by the PMMG. Textron Aviation sells the King Air line under its Beechcraft brand, and its parent, Textron, lists Wichita, Kansas as a manufacturing base.
The crew was on a “periodic and mandatory” training flight to recheck pilot qualifications, the state government said in an official statement. All three officers died at the scene of the police plane crash.
Who the Three Officers Were
Lieutenant Colonel Luiz Fernando Silvestre, 49, was the instructor and had more than 5,000 flight hours, the PMMG told Metrópoles. The other two officers were Lieutenants Gabriela Emília Soares Lacerda Resende, 35, and Alice dos Santos Oliveira Almeida, 34.
Resende had returned from maternity leave two days earlier and leaves two children, the outlet reported. Silvestre and Resende were from Belo Horizonte, and Almeida came from the south of the state.
The police plane also flew donor organs for transplants, although this flight carried none, PMMG spokesman Colonel Flávio Santiago said. “More than 2,000 transplants took place, a good part of them in the hands of Lieutenant Colonel Silvestre,” he told Metrópoles.
Santiago called it the hardest press conference of his life. “Our society is weeping, and above all our corporation, which is in mourning,” he said.
A Second Fatal Crash in Belo Horizonte
The police plane crash came about five hours after a separate accident in Belo Horizonte, the state capital. A single-engine Embraer EMB-711ST built in 1988, registration PT-VHE, crashed at about 11:15 a.m. (10:15 a.m. ET) in the São Gabriel district.
The plane hit a shed and a power pole, then fell onto metro tracks, firefighters told the federal news agency Agência Brasil. The pilot, alone in the four-seat plane, died after taking off from Pampulha Airport for a short flight to Juatuba and back.
Itatiaia named the pilot as Daniel Salomão, 31, a commercial pilot and flight instructor from Bahia state. The plane’s registered owner, the Bahia fruit company Bello Fruit, said it would not comment on possible causes until the official investigations end.
No metro workers were hurt, and train service was not affected, a Metrô BH spokesperson told Itatiaia. Metrô BH is the private concession that runs the city’s metro.
Who Is Investigating Both Crashes
Cenipa, the Brazilian Air Force’s Aeronautical Accident Investigation and Prevention Center, was called in to investigate both crashes, Metrópoles reported. Its third regional unit, known as Seripa III, sent investigators to gather information, preserve evidence and assess damage.
Cenipa, which also investigated the 2024 Voepass airliner crash that killed 62 people, focuses on preventing future accidents. The Civil Police of Minas Gerais, the state’s investigative force, is also looking into the Belo Horizonte crash, according to Itatiaia.
Governor Mateus Simões announced three days of official mourning across Minas Gerais from Friday. Simões belongs to the Social Democratic Party (PSD), a centrist party led nationally by Gilberto Kassab.
He wrote on X that he had the “personal privilege” of working with the officers at the state’s air command. Colonel Santiago warned against early theories: “Anything we say now has no basis in the investigation.”
What It Means for You
Neither crash involved an airline. The police plane crash happened on a training flight, and the other aircraft was a privately owned four-seat plane.
For American operators and investors, the King Air line now belongs to Textron Aviation, part of New York Stock Exchange-listed Textron. If investigators find a fault in the aircraft itself, it would concern King Air operators far beyond Brazil.
Both flights left from Pampulha, Belo Horizonte’s older city airport. Most international travellers use the city’s main airport, Confins, which neither crash involved.
What Is Not Known
Investigators have not said what caused the police plane crash or the Belo Horizonte accident. Nothing so far points to a common cause, Metrópoles reported.
Witnesses cited by firefighters reported bangs, a low-flying plane and a trail of smoke before the Belo Horizonte crash.
It is not known whether Cenipa will ask the US manufacturer or US safety investigators to take part. The PMMG has not said how many aircraft remain in its fleet or how its organ-transport flights will be covered.
More: Brazil news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happened in the Brazil police plane crash?
On Friday afternoon, 9 October, a Minas Gerais Military Police King Air crashed near Ipatinga’s regional airport. All three officers aboard, on a mandatory training flight, died in the police plane crash.
Who makes the King Air?
The police plane was a twin-engine Beechcraft King Air 300 turboprop built in 1986, registration PP-EJO. Textron Aviation, which builds planes in Wichita, Kansas, now sells the King Air line under its Beechcraft brand.
Was there another crash in Minas Gerais the same day?
Yes. Around 11:15 a.m., a single-engine Embraer EMB-711ST crashed into the Belo Horizonte metro maintenance yard, killing its pilot, Daniel Salomão, 31. No one on the ground was hurt.
Who investigates air crashes in Brazil?
Cenipa, the Brazilian Air Force’s Aeronautical Accident Investigation and Prevention Center, investigates to prevent future accidents. State police can open separate criminal inquiries, as in the Belo Horizonte case.
Sources: Government of Minas Gerais, Agência Minas, statement of mourning, 9 October 2026; ANAC, Brazilian Aeronautical Registry (RAB), PP-EJO, 10 October 2026; ANAC, Brazilian Aeronautical Registry (RAB), PT-VHE, 10 October 2026; Agência Brasil, 9 October 2026; Metrópoles (mourning decree), 9 October 2026; Metrópoles (PMMG spokesman), 9 October 2026; Metrópoles (organ transport), 9 October 2026; Metrópoles (two crashes, Cenipa), 10 October 2026; Itatiaia (Belo Horizonte crash), 9 October 2026; Itatiaia (pilot identified), 10 October 2026; Textron Aviation, Beechcraft King Air, 10 October 2026; Textron, 10 October 2026.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief