The Brazilian Air Force (FAB), through the Fifth Regional Air Command (V COMAR), in coordination with the Brazilian Navy and the Rio Grande do Sul State Fire Brigade, reports this Sunday, September 11, that it conducted searches in Lagoa dos Patos (RS), after finding wreckage identified as that of the FAB’s F-5E Tiger II fighter plane, which disappeared 40 years ago.
Several parts of the aircraft were located, such as the engines, landing gear, cannon, pylons, pieces of the fuselage, wing fragments, among other components.
According to the Commander of the V COMAR, Air Major Brigadier Marcelo Fornasiari Rivero, the mission, carried out from Wednesday, September 7 to Saturday, September 10, counted with the participation of the Brazilian Navy, the FAB military and the RS Fire Brigade.
The search was carried out on a Benevente patrol boat, and a Navy boat and a Fire Brigade boat were also used.
«In this joint operation we were able to collect all the wreckage that was mapped, which gives us the certainty that it belongs to the plane that disappeared 40 years ago. Our thanks to the Brazilian Navy, the Rio Grande do Sul Fire Department and to the sailor and pilot Cristian who participated in this operation,» the General Officer emphasized.
On July 28, 1982, the F-5E fighter, registration FAB 4831, piloted by Lieutenant Edson Luiz Chiapetta Macedo, disappeared in the training area over the Patos Lagoon, while performing a simulated air combat against another F-5E, both stationed at the Canoas Air Base (BACO).
Despite the search, no trace of the supersonic aircraft or the pilot was found. Years after the accident, the missing pilot was promoted post mortem to the rank of Major, i.e., a promotion intended to express recognition to military personnel killed in the line of duty or as a consequence of it.
According to the Head of BACO’s Flight Safety Advisory, Major Cyríaco Bernardino Duarte de Almeida Brandão Júnior, the search was only possible thanks to the help of a fisherman, Josoé Ortiz, resident of Palmares do Sul (RS), who saw his mullet nets caught in some submerged object in the vicinity of the deserted shore.
According to what was reported by our partner site AEROIN, upon learning that an F-5 fighter had disappeared in the region, the fisherman sent the images of the small pieces and the approximate location of the site to the sailor and civilian pilot Cristian Yanzer de Lima, who had been looking for clues of the F-5 for about five years.
«Before starting the mission, we held briefings on the technical aspects of the F-5 aircraft, the location of the wreckage, as well as the definition of the search procedures. The wreckage of FAB 4831 was located at a depth of approximately 7.5 meters,» added Commander Brandão.
According to Cristian Yanzer, after obtaining information from the fisherman, at dawn on August 11, he started the scanning with the Side Scan equipment (sonar system used for the search and detection of underwater objects), of the VIKYNG sailboat.
«I have always counted on the support of friends, from sailors to fishermen, who have helped in the search. That day, the metallic reflections visible on the screen of the equipment indicated the existence of many pieces, some of large size, scattered on the bed of the Lagoon, in a different location than we expected, and about 100 meters from where the nets were placed,» said the pilot.
«With the sonar images and the pieces delivered by Josoé, I immediately contacted the V COMAR, through Colonel Biasus, fighter pilot, Ex-Commander of the Pampa Squadron and contemporary of the aviator who disappeared in this fateful and sad accident. We did our best to accomplish this noble and humanitarian mission, asking God to relieve the grieving hearts of family and friends for the loss of their loved one», he said.
Also according to Commander Brandão’s report, before the search was resumed, meetings were held with Commander Chiapetta’s family, attended by the commander of V COMAR, Air Brigadier Maj. Rivero; the commander of BACO, Colonel Marcelo Zampier Bussmann; the commander of the Navy’s Southern Naval Patrol Group, Commander Marcelo Rey; the commander of the patrol boat Benevente, Lieutenant Commander Silveira; among others.
