RealTransportes Aéreos (acronym toRedesEstaduaisAéreasLimitadas, literal translation: State Air Networks Limited) was a Brazilian airline founded in 1945. It was merged intoVarig in 1961, when Varig bought theConsórcio Real-Aerovias-Nacional, of which Real was the main carrier.
Real was founded by Vicente Mammana Netto and Linneu Gomes, two formerTACA pilots. TACA also started upAerovias Brasil, a Brazilian airline that later would form a consortium with Real. In November 1945 Mammana and Gomes bought threeDouglas DC-3 and on November 30, 1945 it was authorized to fly. The first flight took off on February 7, 1946 fromSão Paulo toRio de Janeiro. Later a second route,São Paulo toCuritiba was started.
Real grew by offering low fares because it had lower costs. It is said that it started a fare war to which followed a schedule war. In spite of this, Real was able to grow by extending the service to Curitiba toPorto Alegre and opening flights toLondrina andSão José do Rio Preto. Real opened many flights to new locations in precarious operating conditions. It had a bad maintenance record and crews were pressured to fly under adverse conditions. The results were many serious accidents.
In 1951 Real started its first international flight, fromSão Paulo toAsunción viaCuritiba andFoz do Iguaçu. The Paraguayan Government also granted to Real domestic traffic rights on its route fromAsunción toUruguaiana viaEncarnación. Encarnación is the most important city in the south of Paraguay.
The year 1954 brought to Real the most dramatic growth of its history: by purchasing the already establishedAerovias Brasil, Real gained the prestige, experience and influence that it lacked. With the acquisition ofTransportes Aéreos Nacional in 1956, aconsortium which took the name ofConsórcio Real-Aerovias-Nacional was created to fly on the entire Brazilian territory. Though maintaining legal independent identities, because they were controlled by the same person, Linneu Gomes, the three airlines operated jointly and in practice it was Real which controlled the consortium. The consortium dominated the passenger traffic on the triangleSão Paulo,Rio de Janeiro,Belo Horizonte, the economic center of the country. In 1957 it created a route toBrasília, then still under construction.
This expansion took its toll, leading to a gradual purchase of the consortium Real-Aerovias-Nacional byVarig between May and August 1961. At this time, the airline also began flights toChicago-Midway.
Aerovias Brasil, part of the consortium Real-Aerovias-Nacional, bought threeConvair CV-990A for its intercontinental routes shortly before the consortium was sold toVarig. Varig was unable to cancel the order and had to receive and operate those three aircraft.[3]
12 December 1949: aDouglas C-47-DL registration PP-YPM, en route fromSão Paulo-Congonhas toJacarezinho crashed into a mountain while flying under extreme bad weather conditions over the location ofRibeirão Claro with faulty equipment, where an emergency landing had been attempted. Previously the aircraft had already made an unscheduled stop inItapetininga waiting for the weather to clear. Of the 20 passengers and crew aboard, 18 died.[5][6]
17 August 1951: aDouglas C-47-DL registration PP-YPX crashed while flying over the location ofUbatuba. All 10 occupants died.[7][8]
6 March 1955: aDouglas DC-3/C-53-D-DO registration PP-YPZ crashed during approach to land atVitória da Conquista. The landing gear was lowered but the undercarriage did not lock. The pilot made an overshoot and during a turn to the left the aircraft struck a pole, crashed and caught fire. Of the 21 passengers and crew aboard, 5 died.[11]
10 April 1957: aDouglas DC-3/C-47 registration PP-ANX belonging toTransportes Aéreos Nacional en route fromRio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont toSão Paulo-Congonhas crashed into a mountain over the location ofUbatuba. The no. 2 engine caught fire, which forced the crew to make an emergency descent for Ubatuba. Due to rain, the crew noticed Papagaio Peak on Anchieta Island too late. The aircraft stalled during the evasive manoeuvre and crashed into the mountain. Of the 30 passengers and crew aboard, 27 died.[12][13]
18 September 1957: aConvair 440-62 registration PP-AQE belonging toTransportes Aéreos Nacional, flying fromSão Paulo toBuenos Aires viaPorto Alegre andMontevideo had an accident during touch down operations in Montevideo. While on a night landing procedure under fog, the aircraft undershoot the runway by 1,030m, causing the left and middle gear to hit an earth bank bordering a highway. The right wing touched the ground and further on the aircraft lost both propellers. The right wing then broke off. One crew member died.[14]
6 September 1961: aDouglas C-47-DL registration PP-AVL belonging toAerovias Brasil, while on visual approach under adverse conditions toConcórdia crashed into a hill 1,500m short of the runway. Three crew members died.[22]
^Germano da Silva, Carlos Ari César (2008). "Voo controlado pelo terreno".O rastro da bruxa: história da aviação comercial brasileira no século XX através dos seus acidentes 1928-1996 (in Portuguese) (2 ed.). Porto Alegre: EDIPUCRS. pp. 87–90.ISBN978-85-7430-760-2.
^Pereira, Aldo (1987).Breve História da Aviação Comercial Brasileira. Rio de Janeiro: Europa. p. 296.
^Germano da Silva, Carlos Ari César (2008). "Erro de navegação".O rastro da bruxa: história da aviação comercial brasileira no século XX através dos seus acidentes 1928-1996 (in Portuguese) (2 ed.). Porto Alegre: EDIPUCRS. pp. 112–117.ISBN978-85-7430-760-2.
^Germano da Silva, Carlos Ari César (2008). "Ilha Anchieta".O rastro da bruxa: história da aviação comercial brasileira no século XX através dos seus acidentes 1928-1996 (in Portuguese) (2 ed.). Porto Alegre: EDIPUCRS. pp. 159–161.ISBN978-85-7430-760-2.
^Germano da Silva, Carlos Ari César (2008). "Torre de Babel".O rastro da bruxa: história da aviação comercial brasileira no século XX através dos seus acidentes 1928-1996 (in Portuguese) (2 ed.). Porto Alegre: EDIPUCRS. pp. 182–186.ISBN978-85-7430-760-2.
^Germano da Silva, Carlos Ari César (2008). "O mistério da ilha dos Ferros".O rastro da bruxa: história da aviação comercial brasileira no século XX através dos seus acidentes 1928-1996 (in Portuguese) (2 ed.). Porto Alegre: EDIPUCRS. pp. 190–193.ISBN978-85-7430-760-2.
^Germano da Silva, Carlos Ari César (2008). "Melancia voadora".O rastro da bruxa: história da aviação comercial brasileira no século XX através dos seus acidentes 1928-1996 (in Portuguese) (2 ed.). Porto Alegre: EDIPUCRS. pp. 194–196.ISBN978-85-7430-760-2.
Instituto Histórico-Cultural da Aeronáutica (1991).História Geral da Aeronáutica Brasileira: da criação do Ministério da Aeronáutica ao final da Segunda Guerra Mundial (in Portuguese). Vol. 3. Belo Horizonte and Rio de Janeiro: Villa Rica Editoras Reunidas. p. 304.
Instituto Histórico-Cultural da Aeronáutica (2005).História Geral da Aeronáutica Brasileira: de janeiro de 1946 a janeiro de 1956 após o término da Segunda Guerra Mundial até a posse do Dr. Juscelino Kubitschek como Presidente da República (in Portuguese). Vol. 4. Rio de Janeiro: GR3 Comunicação & Design. p. 347.
Migliora, Carlos Affonso (1996).Breve resumo histórico da Aerovias Brasil e outras histórias... (in Portuguese). Rio de Janeiro: Sindicato Nacional dos Aeronautas. pp. 110–118.
