Galeão Air Force Base
Base Aérea do Galeão
Rio de Janeiro,Rio de Janeiro in Brazil
Delivery of a F-5B at Galeão in 1975
Site information
Type	Air Force Base
Code	ALA11
Owner	Brazilian Air Force
Controlled by	Brazilian Air Force
Open to the public	No
Website	www.fab.mil.br/organizacoes/mostra/42
Location
SBGL Location in Brazil Show map of Rio de Janeiro SBGL SBGL (Rio de Janeiro (state)) Show map of Rio de Janeiro (state) SBGL SBGL (Brazil) Show map of Brazil
Coordinates	22°48′36″S043°15′02″W / 22.81000°S 43.25056°W /-22.81000; -43.25056
Site history
Built	1923 (1923)
In use	1941-present
Garrison information
Current commander	Cel. Av. Renato Alves de Oliveira
Occupants	1st Squadron of the 1st Transportation Group 1st Squadron of the 2nd Transportation Group 2nd Squadron of the 2nd Transportation Group 3rd Squadron of Air Transportation
Airfield information
Identifiers	IATA: GIG,ICAO: SBGL,LID: RJ0001
Elevation	9 metres (30 ft)AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 10/28 4,000 metres (13,123 ft) Concrete 15/33 3,180 metres (10,433 ft) Asphalt
Source:DECEA[1]

Galeão Air Force Base – ALA11 (IATA:GIG,ICAO:SBGL) is abase of theBrazilian Air Force located inRio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is named after nearbyPraia do Galeão (Galleon Beach), where in 1663 thegalleonPadre Eterno was built.

It shares some facilities withRio de Janeiro/Galeão International Airport.

The history of the Base begins on 10 May 1923 when a School of Naval Aviation was established near Galeão beach. On 22 May 1941 with the creation of the Air Force Ministry in Brazil, the school became the Galeão Air Force Base and a terminal and hangars were built at the location and the runway extended. Those buildings still exist.^[2] When Brazil declared war against theAxis on 22 August 1942, the aerodrome began to be intensively used by theAllies for military operations related to the World War II.^[3]

With the end of the war, the increase of tonnage of aircraft flying on international routes and number of passengers, and beingSantos Dumont Airport unable to handle all the traffic international flights gradually shifted to the site of the Air Force Base. Although it informally handled long-haul international traffic, services were however precarious and a decision was made to build a brand new passenger terminal, opposite the Air Force Base, across the runway. On 1 February 1952 the passenger terminal was opened and public and military services were separated.

After the completion of a new passenger terminal in 1977, the original public facility became the passenger terminal for passenger flights operated by the Brazilian Air Force. Since then it is informally known asTerminal do Correio Aéreo Nacional (Brazilian Air Force Passenger Services Terminal).

The following units are based at Galeão Air Force Base:

Aircraft	Model	Air unit
	EmbraerKC-390	1st Squadron of the 1st Transportation Group (1°/1°GT)Gordo[4][5]
	LockheedC-130 Hercules
	EmbraerC-99 A	2nd Squadron of the 1st Transportation Group (1°/2°GT)Condor[6][7]
	EmbraerC-97 Brasília
	AirbusKC-30	2nd Squadron of the 2nd Transportation Group (2°/2°GT)Corsário[8]
	EmbraerC-95 B & BM Bandeirante	3rd Squadron of Air Transportation (3°ETA)Pioneiro[9]

• 
  Douglas C-47 Dakota
• 
  Hawker Siddeley C-91 Avro
• 
  Boeing KC-137
• 
  Boeing C-767

• 2 September 1953: aBrazilian Air ForceDouglas C-47 registration FAB-2049 crashed in sea on training flight in the vicinity of the Base. All 4 occupants died.^[10]
• 25 February 1960: (1960 Rio de Janeiro mid-air collision) aUnited States NavyDouglas R6D-1 (DC-6A) registration 131582 flying fromBuenos Aires-Ezeiza to Rio de Janeiro-Galeão Air Force Base collided in the air overGuanabara Bay close toSugarloaf Mountain with aReal Transportes AéreosDouglas DC-3 registration PP-AXD operating flight 751 fromCampos dos Goytacazes toRio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont. The probable causes of the accident are disputed but include error of personnel and faulty equipment. Of the 38 occupants of the American aircraft, 3 survived. All 26 passengers and crew of the Brazilian aircraft died.^[11][12][13]
• 3 May 1982: aRoyal Air ForceAvro Vulcan bomber was intercepted by two F-5E aircraft of the 2nd Squadron of the 1st Group of Combat Aviation (2°/1°GAvC)Pif-paf based atSanta Cruz Air Force Base. The Vulcan had finished theOperation Black Buck 6 during theFalklands War and was returning toAscension Island when it suffered technical problems: while attempting torefuel from a tanker aircraft, the tip of the probe broke. With insufficient fuel to return to its base atAscension Island, the Vulcan declaredmayday, it was intercepted upon entering Brazilian airspace and made to land at Galeão Air Force Base. The Brazilian aircraft flew back to Santa Cruz Air Force Base having successfully accomplished their mission. The Vulcan and its crew were interned at Galeão Air Force Base for nine days, before they were returned on 11 June, when diplomacy of the countries involved clarified the incident.^{[14][15][16][17]}
• 12 November 1990: aBrazilian Air Forcede Havilland Canada DHC-5 Buffalo registration FAB-2350 crashed upon take-off from Galeão Air Force Base. Of the 9 occupants, 1 survived.^[18]

The base is located 20 km from Rio de Janeiro downtown in the district ofGovernor Island.

• List of Brazilian military bases
• Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport

• Airport information for SBGL at Great Circle Mapper. Source:DAFIF (effective October 2006).
• Current weather for SBGL atNOAA/NWS
• Accident history for GIG atAviation Safety Network

• Brazilian Air Force bases
• Buildings and structures in Rio de Janeiro (state)
• Airports in Rio de Janeiro (city)
• 1923 establishments in Brazil
• Military airbases established in 1923

• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
• CS1 Portuguese-language sources (pt)
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from August 2019
• Articles containing Portuguese-language text
• Coordinates on Wikidata