Five dead including child after pilot tried to avoid footballers in plane crash

27 December 2023 , 15:58

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The five year old died alongside his parents (Image: CEN)

A pilot has been called a hero after directing his doomed plane away from a crowded field where people were playing football, as it crash landed, killing him and four members of his family.

Five-year-old Jose Ricardo Nogueira Teles was among those who died alongside pilot and the plane's owner 65-year-old Delcides Menezes Tiago. Jose's parents Renata Garcia Nogueira, 39, and Edson da Silva Teles, 42, also died, along with their 17-year-old niece Eduarda Garcia da Silva.

The incident took place in Jaboticabal, in the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo, at around 9am on Saturday, December 23. A horrified onlooker recorded footage of the aircraft's burning remains after it crashed. The footage, shot by a horrified onlooker, shows the burning remains of the aircraft after it crashed.

Local media reported that the aircraft exploded after it crashed, with locals saying that they heard the plane's engine spluttering and then failing before it crashed. The five victims were reportedly on board the aircraft when it crashed. Mr Tiago was reportedly the owner of an optical business in the state and was a licensed pilot.

Local flower seller Reginaldo Ferreira told local media that the pilot had tried to land the plane but was unable to do so, saying: "I was in my home area, I had just got up, and I heard this plane passing, it was coming in low to crash land. It tried several times to land near here, it was unsuccessful.

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The plane crashed in Brazil (CEN)

Pilot Delcides Menezes Tiago (CEN)

"The engine was failing. It came, tried to land on the field, but I think it had to move as people were playing football. He tried to leave again to land somewhere else, he went up, but there was no time, he fell out of nowhere and the plane exploded."

The aircraft was reportedly a single-engine RV-10 that was built in 2012. The causes of the accident are still being investigated but local media said that the plane could normally only carry a pilot and three passengers and might have been over capacity.

Kelly-Ann Mills