TransBrasil (QD & TR / TBA) Brazil

IATA QD (as Sadia) TR (as Transbrasil)	ICAO TBA	Callsign Transbrasil

Founded

1955 (as Sadia)
1972 (as Transbrasil)

Ceased operations

2001

Hubs

São Paulo, Brazil

Destinations

Headquarters

Brasilia

Key people

Omar Fontana

Website

transbrasil.com.br/i/index.htm

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TransBrasil was an international Brazilian airline which ceased operations in December 2001. Transbrasil was privately owned, by Omar Fontana and his relatives. The company was known for its very colorful aircraft which featured a rainbow on the aircraft's tail. It was headquartered in Brasilia International Airport in Brasilia.

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1955-1972

• 1955 - Sadia Transportes Aéreos S/A was created, by Omar Fontana. It was controlled and used by Sadia, initially for food transportation.
• 1962 - Sadia acquires "Transportes Aéreos Salvador". Back then, it covered 53 cities with a fleet of 27 airplanes.
• 1967 - Sadia stardardized its fleet with pressurized aircraft (mostly Dart Heralds).
• 1968 - Sadia opened its capital and distributed shares to its employees.
• 1972 - Sadia changed its name to Transbrasil S.A. Linhas Aéreas, and transferred its hub to Brasília.

1972-2001

• 1973 - Transbrasil ordered some Bandeirante EMB-110, made by Embraer, to replace the Dart Heralds.
• 1974 - Transbrasil received its first Boeing 727-100.
• 1975 - Transbrasil is the third largest Brazilian airline. Together with Varig and VASP, it survived the oil crisis while most other airlines in Brazil were declared bankrupt.
• 1985 - Omar Fontana lost his shares in the company, in a government decision. Two years later, he was back as owner again, but the company was scrapped by its predecessor.
• 1990s - The company made a big expansion, acquiring new Boeing 737s and 767s. It was once the second major Brazilian airline.
• 1998 - Omar Fontana decided to retire, due to health problems. Celso Cipriani assumed the presidency. The company began its downfall in the late 1990s, due to little attention given to the domestic market, international crisis and harsh competitions from Varig, TAM Linhas Aéreas and VASP on the most profitable routes.
• 2001 - Shell decided to interrupt the supply of kerosene to Transbrasil until the airline paid its debts with the oil company. Two years later, the company was declared bankrupt.

2001-2009

On 16 September, 2009 the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court began the analysis of the legality of the bankruptcy of Transbrasil. The bankruptcy was confirmed on 2 October 2009.

Fleet

Transbrasil was known for its colourful airplanes.nnn

The main airplanes used by the company and its subsidiary Interbrasil were:

• DC-3
• C-46
• Dart Herald
• BAC One Eleven-500
• EMB-110
• 707
• 727-100
• 737-300
• 737-400
• 767-200
• 767-300

Destinations

• Brazil: Aracaju, Brasília, Belém, Belo Horizonte, Campinas, Campo Grande, Florianópolis, Fortaleza, Foz do Iguaçu, Goiânia, Londrina, Manaus, Maringá, Natal, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, São Paulo, Sao Luís, Teresina, Vitória

• Other countries: Amsterdam, Buenos Aires, Lisboa, Miami, Montreal YMX, New York JFK, Porto, Orlando, Vienna, Washington, D.C.

• Major hubs: São Paulo (Congonhas & Guarulhos Airports), Rio de Janeiro (Galeão and Santos Dumont Airports), Belo Horizonte (Pampulha Airport), Brasília, Porto Alegre

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Accidents and incidents

As Sadia

• 3 November 1967: a Handley Page Dart Herald 214 registration PP-SDJ flying from São Paulo-Congonhas to Curitiba-Afonso Pena collided with a hill during descent pattern to land at Curitiba. All crew and 21 passengers died, 4 passengers survived.

As Transbrasil

• 12 April 1980: a Boeing 727-27C registration PT-TYS operating flight 303 flying from São Paulo-Congonhas to Florianópolis was on a night instrumental approach to Florianópolis Airport under a severe thunderstorm. The aircraft went off course, struck a hill and exploded. Probable causes are misjudgment of speed and distance, inadequate flight supervision, failure to initiate a go-around and improper operation of the engines. Of the 58 passengers and crew aboard, 3 passengers survived. nnn

• 21 March 1989: flight 801, a cargo Boeing 707-349C registration PT-TCS, flying from Manaus to São Paulo-Guarulhos, crashed at the district of Vila Barros in Guarulhos, shortly before touch-down at runway 09R. That day, at 12:00 the runway was going to be closed for maintenance and the crew decided to speed up procedures to touch-down before closure (it was already 11:54). In a hurry, one of the crew members, by mistake, activated the air-dynamic brakes and the aircraft lost too much speed to have enough aerodynamic support (Stall). As a consequence the aircraft crashed at approximately 2 km from the airport. There were 25 fatalities which of these three were crew members and 22 were civilians on the accident site. As well as the 22 fatalities, there were also over 100 injured on the ground.