Shocking footage captured the moment a small plane trying to make an emergency landing crashed and exploded on a busy street in São Paulo on Friday, killing the passenger and pilot.
The Beechcraft King Air F909 jet could be seen diving near an intersection on Marquês de São Vicente Avenue just as vehicles had turned off the thoroughfare.
As it struck the ground, it burst into giant fireball before careening down the street and slamming into a bus packaged with passengers.
The charred bodies of the aircraft owner, Márcio Carpena, 46, and the pilot, Gustavo Medeiros, 44, were found inside the plane.
At least seven people, including a bus passenger and motorcyclist, were injured.
Carpena, a lawyer, purchased the jet in December 2024 and immediately flew his family to Uruguay, according to a post on his Instagram.
The father-of-three, who taught law at the Pontifical Catholic University, shared a video on Instagram showing the plane at Campo de Marte Airport on Friday shortly before it departed at 7:15am for Porto Alegre.
In audio message obtained by Brazilian news outlets G1 and Metropoles, a pilot who was waiting to take off could be heard saying that Medeiros requested permission to return to the airport.
‘Teams from the Military Police, Civil Police and Technical-Scientific Police are also supporting the incident.’
The airspace over the area was closed following the crash.
The plane, which was built in 1981, had undergone maintenance for a week last month.
The plane crash was the third fatal air incident to occur in São Paulo in the last 30 days.
On January 9, a small plane skidded off the runway after landing at an airport in the municipality of Ubatuba and exploded on a beach. A couple and their two children survived and the pilot