Court blocks company assets after helicopter crash in Rio

The 26th Federal Court of Justice in Rio de Janeiro determined the unavailability of assets belonging to the company Voos Rio Panorânico e Serviços Aeronáuticos, including bank accounts, investments, properties, vehicles and corporate interests, up to the limit of R$ 10 million, partially accepting the request from the Federal Public Ministry (MPF).

The legal measure was motivated by the crash of a company helicopter in Vista Chinesa, in the Tijuca Forest, in Rio de Janeiro, on August 8, during a commercial panoramic flight, which left four people dead.

The pilot, Alessandro Rocha, and three Colombian tourists from the same family died in the accident: the grandmother, Rocio Cubillos, the daughter Wendy Manrique and the granddaughter, Sofia Murillo, aged 17.

The action filed by the MPF calls for the blocking of the defendants' financial assets, vehicles and properties up to a limit of R$10 million, in addition to the preparation and execution of the environmental recovery plan.

The MPF also demands that the defendants be ordered to pay R$10 million for collective environmental moral damages, in addition to the full recovery of the degraded area.

In the decision last Thursday (15), the 26th Federal Court of Justice also ordered the company and its managing partner to prepare, within 30 days, a Degraded Area Recovery Plan (PRAD), with the objective of promoting the integral ecological restoration of the site. The compensation request will be analyzed during the process.

In the action, the MPF maintains that civil liability for environmental damage is objective, and it is not necessary to prove guilt, but the relationship between the activity carried out and the environmental damage. Under this regime, justifications such as unforeseeable circumstances or force majeure do not generally apply to eliminate the obligation to repair the damage.

The public civil action does not cover the individual rights of the fatal victims of the accident and their heirs because the Public Prosecutor's Office does not have the legitimacy to bring action on their behalf.

Fall

The collision of the aircraft against the ground and vegetation caused an explosion and a large forest fire in the Atlantic Forest, in an area located in the buffer zone of the Tijuca National Park. According to the expertise carried out, the fire reached trees more than five meters high and caused damage to the native fauna and flora of the protected ecosystem.

In addition to the direct environmental damage and deaths, the MPF highlights that the operation put the lives, physical integrity and property of thousands of people who were circulating through the city at risk at risk.

The evidence presented by the MPF was gathered in its own preparatory procedure, in a police investigation and in a face-to-face inspection carried out by the National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac).

The regulatory agency's report pointed out serious flaws in the company's operational safety management, including the inoperability of the operational safety management system, problems in controlling crew fatigue, the absence of manufacturer identification plates on the aircraft and inconsistencies in aeronautical maintenance records.

In view of the irregularities identified, Anac ordered the precautionary suspension of the company's Air Operator Certificate and the interdiction of six other aircraft in its fleet. These elements, together with the expert reports and other evidence gathered, support the requests presented by the MPF in the public civil action.