Stunning footage shows private jet bursting into flames during doomed landing, killing pilot
Shocking footage captured a private jet erupting into a fireball soon after trying to land at a Brazilian airport — killing the pilot and almost running into a tourist who was filming it.
The Cessna 525 Citation jet initially appeared set for a normal landing Thursday when it then hit the ground across the road from the airport and burst into flames, videos of the crash show.
The fire quickly engulfed the plane as it skidded across the highway, careening in front of cars and blowing through a fence as it turned into a whirling inferno on the coastal runway in Ubatuba, in the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo.
Pilot Paulo Seghetto was killed. The four passengers — Mireylle Fries, 41, her husband, Bruno Almeida Souza, 41, and their two young children — were saved from the wreckage and taken to a nearby hospital, according to the Daily Mail. A 59-year-old pedestrian was also hurt, according to local reports.
A tourist who filmed the landing, Rogerio Prado, said he nearly became a casualty himself when the plane ripped through the runway fence and cannonballed by him.
“I was taking selfies right in front of the airport runway when I turned towards the sea and saw the plane flying,” he said of the rainy day.
“I took out my mobile phone and started filming because it seemed like the plane was going to land on the runway,” he continued.
“I didn’t even have time to run, just to turn my back, and the plane had already crossed the fence, made the first impact, then crossed the track and passed exactly where I was before, about four meters [13 feet] away from me.”
The explosion charred his back and arm, but he was not badly hurt and didn’t need medical attention.
He and other alarmed volunteers used rocks to break the plane’s windows and help the family out of the wreck, which ended up in the water on the other side of the airfield.
“It was something I didn’t expect, I didn’t imagine that a simple video would capture an accident in its entirety,” he said.
“It was a very random video, just to film the plane landing and this tragedy ended up happening. I didn’t imagine it would end like this.”
The Brazilian Air Force, the Civil Police and the Public Ministry of Sao Paulo are investigating the accident, but local media said the Cessna likely needed a longer runway than was available at Ubatuba airport.
The plane had left Mineiros Municipal Airport in Mineiros, but hit bad weather in Ubatuba — including the wet runaway, the Mail said.
