Tragic accident in São Paulo

"The accident happened on May the 14th 1959 after a wrong decision by the pilot, who wanted to perform a probably inverted half roll from a low height while flying on his back. The plane was totally destroyed and, in agreement with the embassy, ​​taken to a pit outside the city," is written in the letter sent by Luděk Skočdopole on the 18th of May to the OMNIPOL Headquarters in Prague.

The half throw missed by a few meters

The accident report shows that J. Krejza was flying at a lower altitude than usual in São Paulo that day. "Josef Krejza had a formation in which - to be effective - he flew all the way to the ground. That is, up to a height of about 30 meters," recalls expedition leader Luděk Skočdopole. In São Paulo, however, he was betrayed by different conditions than in previous performances. “That day we were showing the morning in Rio de Janeiro, which is located at zero altitude. The pressure in São Paulo, which lies at an altitude of 800 meters, is different," explains Mr. Skočdopole.

And he adds: "Unfortunately, he didn't miss a few meters. We were shocked.”

To view the video of the accident, you can visit this page.

Consequences of the accident

The tragic accident was followed by filling out various protocols and arranging other things connected with the tragic event. Since representatives of competing companies were also present at the scene of the accident, we had to deal with distorted reports about this event in Brazil, which were intended to worsen the reputation of Czechoslovak aircraft. For example, the newspaper said that the machine caught fire in the air. There were several similar articles.

Deciding not to continue performing

"After consulting with the ambassador, we decided not to continue performing in Brazil. After settling all matters, we will fly to Uruguay and then to Buenos Aires. I reckon that we should be done with everything within a month," says the letter that Mr. Skočdopole sent to Prague after the plane crash.

Return to Uruguay

On the 21st of May,  the team leaves Brazil and returns to Uruguay, where the final performances await them in Montevideo. More on that in the next chapter.

This tragic accident shows how dangerous flying can be, especially during aerobatic maneuvers. Although the expedition faced many challenges, it did not lose its determination and continued it’s mission. Josef Krejza's accident was a painful reminder of how important it is to pay attention to safety and carefully consider all factors when flying.