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| Founded | 1929 (as NYRBA do Brasil) | |||
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| Commenced operations | 1930 | |||
| Hubs | Rio de Janeiro - Galeão Airport Rio de Janeiro - Santos Dumont Airport |
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| Fleet size | 24 (at the time of the shutdown) | |||
| Destinations | 60 locations in Brazil (41 of them in the Amazon region) and 16 abroad, as of May 1964 | |||
| Parent company | Pan American World Airways (1930-1961), Planejamento Guanabara (1961-1965) | |||
| Headquarters | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | |||
| Key people | Ralph O'Neill (founder) Paulo de Oliveira Sampaio (CEO 1943-1955; 1961-1965) Mário Wallace Simonsen (owner 1961-1965) Celso da Rocha Miranda (owner 1961-86) Rodolfo da Rocha Miranda (owner and CEO 1986-present) |
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Panair do Brasil (or simply "Panair") was one of the main airlines in Brazil, and Latin America's largest carrier between 1945 and 1965.
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History
1929-1945
Panair do Brasil began operations in October 22, 1929, as NYRBA do Brasil S.A., a local subsidiary of NYRBA, Inc. (New York, Rio, and Buenos Aires Line). One year later, as the parent company was acquired by Pan American World Airways, this affiliate was renamed Panair do Brasil S.A.
1945-1965
Shortly after the end of World War II, Panair started its services to Europe, being the only Brazilian airline with a concession to fly to that region. Panair was the first international airline to land on the then newly-inaugurated London Heathrow Airport, in April, 1946. The airline set a high standard for its services and for many years the expression 'padrão Panair' (Panair standard) was a synonym for excellence. Panair do Brasil was forced to declare bankruptcy and cease operations abruptly on February 10, 1965, when the Brazilian military government, which seized power the year before, suspended its routes and allotted them to Varig. Furthermore, 3 of its Caravelles and 3 of its Catalinas were leased to Cruzeiro do Sul, and 2 of its DC-8-33 to Varig.
1965-2009
The controversial decision to liquidate Panair so suddenly triggered a lengthy legal battle. In December 1984, the courts acknowledged that the airline had operated within regular technical and financial parameters when it was shut down, and the government was sentenced to pay reparations to its former owners. The forced bankruptcy was suspended on May 5, 1995, and the company now seeks indemnizations from the Ministry of Justice. On August 27, 2009, with a 44-year delay, the Air Command of the Brazilian Ministry of Defence revoked Panair's route and schedule concessions,[1] which are madatory for airline operations.
Destinations
Fleet
| Aircraft | Total | Years of Operation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consolidated Commodore | 7 | 1930-1940 | |
| Sikorsky S-38 | 6 | 1930-1938 | |
| Lockheed Air Express | 1 | 1930-1930 | |
| Fairchild XA-942A | 2 | 1935-1944 | |
| Sikorsky S-43 Baby Clipper | 7 | 1936-1947 | |
| Lockheed L-10 Electra | 2 | 1937-1943 | |
| Douglas DC-2 | 2 | 1941-1942 | |
| Lockheed L-18 Lodestar | 14 | 1941-1947 | |
| Douglas DC-3 | 23 | 1945-1965 | |
| Lockheed L-12 | 2 | 1945-1946 | |
| Lockheed L-049/149 Constellation | 14 | 1946-1965 | |
| Consolidated PBY-5A/6A Catalina | 8 | 1948-1965 | 3 to Cruzeiro do Sul in 1965 |
| Douglas DC-7C | 6 | 1957-1965 | |
| Douglas DC-6A | 4 | 1959-1961 | |
| Douglas DC-8-33 | 4 | 1961-1965 | 2 to Varig in 1965 |
| Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle VI R | 4 | 1962-1965 | 3 to Cruzeiro do Sul in 1965 |
Source: Pereira, Aldo (1987). Breve História da Aviação Comercial Brasileira. Rio de Janeiro: Europa. pp. 337–341.
Accidents and Incidents
Accidents Involving Fatalities
- 18 August 1941: a Lockheed L-18 Lodestar registration PP-PBD crashed on the Cantareira mountain range near São Paulo. Of the 13 passengers and crew aboard, 8 died.
- 28 September 1942: a Lockheed L-18 Lodestar registration PP-PBG crashed on the location of Pedra Branca, near Santo André. All 15 passengers and crew died.
- 31 August 1944: a Lockheed L-18 Lodestar registration PP-PBI crashed while on night approach to São Paulo - Congonhas. All 18 occupants died.
- 21 September 1944: a Lockheed L-18 Lodestar registration PP-PBH crashed shortly after take-off from Salvador. All 17 occupants died.
- 27 September 1946: a Douglas DC-3-228D registration PP-PCH flying from Belo Horizonte - Pampulha to Rio de Janeiro - Santos Dumont crashed into a mountain near the location of Alto Rio Doce. All 25 passengers and crew died.
- 3 January 1947: a Sikorsky S-43B Baby Clipper registration PP-PBN crashed in São Paulo de Olivença. Of the 14 occupants, 11 died.
- 28 July 1950: a Lockheed L-049 Constellation registration PP-PCG flying from Rio de Janeiro - Santos Dumont to Porto Alegre struck power lines and crashed on a hill after running out of fuel while holding in bad weather near São Leopoldo. All 50 passengers and crew died.
- 28 February 1952: a Douglas DC-3A-393 registration PP-PCN flying from Rio de Janeiro - Santos Dumont to Goiânia via Uberlândia had the wing struck a tree while on going around operations to land at Uberlândia. Of the 31 occupants, 8 died.
- 17 June 1953: a Lockheed L-049 Constellation registration PP-PDA crashed on final approach to São Paulo - Congonhas. Apparently causes are related to night operations with little visibility. All 17 passengers and crew died.
- 16 June 1955: a Lockheed L-049/149 Constellation registration PP-PDJ flying from Rio de Janeiro - Galeão to Buenos Aires - Ezeiza via São Paulo and Asunción hit a 12m tree while on final approach to land at Asunción. Part of the wing broke-off, the aircraft crashed and caught fire. Of the 24 passengers and crew aboard, 16 died.
- 18 April 1956: a Consolidated PBY-5A/6A Catalina registration PP-PDB flying from Belém to Parintins broke in two after striking a submerged object or debris on landing procedures. Of the 12 passengers and crew aboard, 3 died.
- 1 November 1961: a Douglas DC-7C registration PP-PDO en route from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro - Galeão via Sal and Recife, during its final approach at Recife, struck a 84m hill 2,7km away from the runway and broke-up. The aircraft was doing a night approach too low and outside the regular traffic pattern. All 45 passengers and crew died.
- 20 August 1962: a Douglas DC-8-33 registration PP-PDT flying from Rio de Janeiro - Galeão to Lisbon, overran the runway into the ocean during an aborted take-off. From the 105 passengers and crew aboard, 15 died.
- 14 December 1962: a Lockheed L-049 Constellation registration PP-PDE en route from Belém to Manaus - Ponta Pelada crashed in the jungle, during a night approach, due to unknown causes, approximately 45km from Manaus at the location of Paraná da Eva. All 50 passengers and crew died.
Incidents
- 2 December 1959: the Lockheed L-049/149 Constellation registration PP-PCR operating the flight 246 en route from Rio de Janeiro - Santos Dumont to Belém, with 44 passengers and crew aboard, was seized and hijacked by officers of the Brazilian Air Force and made to land at Aragarças, Goiás. Their intention was to use the aircraft in a bombing of Government buildings in Rio de Janeiro, starting thus a revolt against President Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira. The revolt faded after 36 hours and the aircraft was commanded to fly to Buenos Aires where the hijackers requested asylum. There were no victims.
Curiosities
- Panair do Brasil was the first non-US airline to acquire the Lockheed Constellation.
- In the 1940s, the airline had the most extensive network of domestic routes in the world.
- Panair seconded only UK's BOAC in placing orders for the de Havilland Comet, the world's first commercial jet airliner. The orders were later cancelled due to flaws on the plane's original design.
- Just as Pan Am called their planes "Clippers", Panair do Brasil baptized its fleet with the names of "Bandeirantes".
- Panair do Brasil DC-8s can be seen in a handful of movies, including the Italian-French co-production, Copacabana (1962), as well as the French productions La Peau Douce (1964) and L'homme de Rio (1964).
- The abrupt shutdown of Panair by the military dictatorship was so traumatic to Brazilian society that celebrated musicians Fernando Brant and Milton Nascimento composed a song called "Nas asas da Panair" ("On the Wings of Panair") as a tribute to the airline.
- Part of Panair's logo is still visible at the company's former hangar at Santos Dumont Airport.
- Former employees of Panair do Brasil, their families and friends attend an annual reunion on the week of October 22, the airline's birthday. This tradition has been religiously preserved since 1966 and there is a movement to include it in the Guinness World Records.
- The airline has been the theme of a number of books. The most recent, Pouso forçado (2005) ("Forced Landing"), made it to the finalists of Prêmio Jabuti, Brazil's most important literature award.[2]
- Panair do Brasil, a documentary about the company written by Marco Altberg, was exhibited at Festival do Rio (2007). It was released in 2008.[3]
See also
NYRBA (New York, Rio, and Buenos Aires Line)
References
- ^ Decision of the Air Command of the Brazilian Ministry of Defense revoking concessions for Panair (in Portuguese)
- ^ Câmara Brasileira do Livro. Prêmio Jabuti. Relatório de votação. Accessed August 13, 2007.
- ^ Festival do Rio. [1]. Panair do Brasil. Accessed September 23, 2007.
Bibliography
- (Portuguese) Abreu, Theophilo E. (2000). Nas asas da Panair.
- Banning, Gene (2001). Airlines of Pan American since 1927. Paladwr. ISBN 1888962178.
- Davies, R.E.G. (1987). Pan Am: An Airline and Its Aircraft. Crown. ISBN 0517566397.
- (Portuguese) Medeiros, Jo Dutra et al. (1979). A história da Panair do Brasil: 50 anos. Editora Técnica da Aviação.
- O'Neill, Ralph (1973). A Dream of Eagles. San Francisco Book Company/Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 0-913374-02-4.
- (Portuguese) Palhano Barbosa, Nair (1996). Nas asas da história: Lembranças da Panair do Brasil. Agir. ISBN 85-220-0467-6.
- (Portuguese) Pereira, Aldo (1987). Breve História da Aviação Comercial Brasileira. Rio de Janeiro: Europa.
- (Portuguese) Sasaki, Daniel L. (2005). Pouso Forçado: A história por trás da destruição da Panair do Brasil pelo regime militar. Record.
- Wegg, John (2005). Caravelle: The complete story. Paladwr.
External links
- Panair do Brasil accidents as per Aviation Safety Network
- Timetable images of Panair do Brasil
- Panair do Brasil Photo Archive at airliners.net
- Wings across the Amazon: Panair in northern Brazil
- Airport Development Program: Panair do Brasil's role in WWII
- Grounded by Force: A detailed article of the forced end of Panair
- Too Many Wings: An article contemporary to the shutdown of Panair, later contradicted by Brazilian Justice
- (Portuguese) Obra da ditadura: An account of the end of Panair
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