RealTransportes Aéreos (acronym to Redes Estaduais Aéreas Limitadas, literal translation: State Air Networks Limited) was a Brazilian airline founded in 1945. It was merged into
Varig in 1961, when Varig bought the Consórcio Real-Aerovias-Nacional, of which Real was the main carrier.
History
Real was founded by Vicente Mammana Netto and Linneu Gomes, two former
TACA pilots. TACA also started up
Aerovias Brasil, a Brazilian airline that later would form a consortium with Real. In November 1945 Mammana and Gomes bought three
Douglas DC-3 and on November 30, 1945 it was authorized to fly. The first flight took off on February 7, 1946 from
São Paulo to
Rio de Janeiro. Later a second route,
São Paulo to
Curitiba 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 to
Porto Alegre and opening flights to
Londrina and
São 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, from
São Paulo to
Asunción via
Curitiba and
Foz do Iguaçu. The Paraguayan Government also granted to Real domestic traffic rights on its route from
Asunción to
Uruguaiana via
Encarnación. 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 established
Aerovias Brasil, Real gained the prestige, experience and influence that it lacked. With the acquisition of
Transportes Aéreos Nacional in 1956, a
consortium which took the name of Consórcio 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 triangle
São Paulo,
Rio de Janeiro,
Belo Horizonte, the economic center of the country. In 1957 it created a route to
Brasília, then still under construction.
The expansion took its toll leading to the gradual purchase of the consortium Real-Aerovias-Nacional by
Varig between May and August 1961. At this time, the airline also began flights to
Chicago-Midway.
Aerovias Brasil, part of the consortium Real-Aerovias-Nacional, bought three
Convair CV-990A for its intercontinental routes shortly before the consortium was sold to
Varig. Varig was unable to cancel the order and had to receive and operate those three aircraft.[3]
12 December 1949: a
Douglas C-47-DL registration PP-YPM, en route from
São Paulo-Congonhas to
Jacarezinho crashed into a mountain while flying under extreme bad weather conditions over the location of
Ribeirão Claro with faulty equipment, where an emergency landing had been attempted. Previously the aircraft had already made an unscheduled stop in
Itapetininga waiting for the weather to clear. Of the 20 passengers and crew aboard, 18 died.[5][6]
17 August 1951: a
Douglas C-47-DL registration PP-YPX crashed while flying over the location of
Ubatuba. All 10 occupants died.[7][8]
6 March 1955: a
Douglas DC-3/C-53-D-DO registration PP-YPZ crashed during approach to land at
Vitória 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: a
Douglas DC-3/C-47 registration PP-ANX belonging to
Transportes Aéreos Nacional en route from
Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont to
São Paulo-Congonhas crashed into a mountain over the location of
Ubatuba. 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: a
Convair 440-62 registration PP-AQE belonging to
Transportes Aéreos Nacional, flying from
São Paulo to
Buenos Aires via
Porto Alegre and
Montevideo 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: a
Douglas C-47-DL registration PP-AVL belonging to
Aerovias Brasil, while on visual approach under adverse conditions to
Concórdia crashed into a hill 1,500m short of the runway. Three crew members died.[22]
See also
Aerovias Brasil, a partner of the consortium Real-Aerovias-Nacional
^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.