From: Bloomberg
A Brazilian military plane carrying medical personnel from the national health service disappeared this morning while flying over the Amazon, the Air Force said.
The C-98 Caravan, which has a capacity of 14 passengers and a pilot, was scheduled to land in Tabatinga, along the Colombian border in Amazonas state, at 10:15 a.m. New York time after a two-hour flight from Cruzeiro do Sul. A search mission of two Blackhawk helicopters and two military planes are in the area, the Air Force said in a statement on its Web site.
The plane, made by Wichita, Kansas-based Cessna Aircraft Co., was carrying a nurse and seven assistants from the National Health Foundation in Acre state, CBN Radio reported. They were on their way to administer vaccinations in indigenous communities in the Amazon, CBN said.
The Air Force confirmed there were 11 people on the aircraft. The military will set up a search operation headquarters in Cruzeiro do Sul, the statement said.
Brazil’s Amazon, an area 15 times the size of Germany that’s home to the world’s largest rainforest, has seen several air tragedies in recent years.
In February, 24 passengers were killed when the engine of an EMB 110 Bandeirante aircraft operated by Manaus Aerotaxi failed, causing a crash into a tributary of the Amazon River. In 2006, 154 people were killed when a Gol Linha Aereas Inteligentes jetliner collided midair with an Embraer Legacy executive jet before crashing into the rainforest canopy in Mato Grosso state.