Val de Cães International Airport

Belém/Val de Cães–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport (IATA: BEL, ICAO: SBBE) is the main airport serving Belém, Brazil. Val de Cães, the name of the neighborhood where the airport is located, is the most common spelling although Val de Cans is also considered correct. Since April 13, 2010 the airport is named also after Júlio Cezar Ribeiro de Souza (1837–1887) a researcher of balloons.^[4]

It is operated by Infraero.

Some of its facilities are shared with Belém Air Force Base of the Brazilian Air Force.

History

In 1934 General Eurico Gaspar Dutra, then the Director of the Military Aviation, appointed Lieutenant Armando Sierra de Menezes to choose in Val de Cães a site where an airport was to be built. The Directorate of Civil Aeronautics, an agency of the Ministry of Traffic and Public Works, would be in charge of the work. Val de Cães began its history as land track running along the east/west axis with 1,200m. The facility comprised a courtyard, a hangar and a parking structure of concrete for military aircraft, which later became known as "Yellow Hangar."

With the outbreak of World War II air bases and airports located on the Brazilian coast became immensely important in the support of transportation of aircraft, personnel and equipment across the South Atlantic Ocean to Sierra Leone in West Africa. These facilities provided the necessary logistical support for the thousands of planes that, manufactured in Canada and the United States were moved to North Africa and Europe. After protracted negotiations between Brazil and the United States, airstrips were built at Belém for the Air Transport Command with two runways measuring 1,500 x 45 meters on a basis of concrete and asphalt and comprising modern airport facilities, able to meet efficiently civil aviation and military needs. Val de Cães and other air bases used by the Americans during World War II were returned to the Ministry of Aeronautics in 1945.

Panair do Brasil, Pan American, and NAB – Navegação Aérea Brasileira began their activities at Val de Cães building their stations and providing services to passengers. In 1958, the Ministry of Aeronautics began building the first passenger terminal for general airline use, which was opened on January 24, 1959. It was then administered by the Department of Civil Aviation. In 1974 its administration was transferred to Infraero.

The original passenger terminal complex underwent major renovation and expansion, which was completed in 2001: in 1999 a brand-new passenger terminal located at the side of the old terminal was built and after its opening, the old terminal was demolished to give place for an extension to the new terminal. This new extended terminal greatly increased the comfort and area available to passengers by adding 6 jetways.

Airlines

Accidents and incidents

Accidents

• 14 July 1948: an Aerovias Brasil Douglas C-47A-70-DL registration PP-AVO doing a cargo flight, crashed and caught fire after taking-off from Belém-Val de Cães. All 5 passengers and crew died.^[5]
• 1 December 1955: a Cruzeiro do Sul Douglas C-47B-28-DK registration PP-CCC after take off from Belém-Val de Cães lost power on engine no.1. Consequent technical problems led the aircraft to lose altitude and the left wing struck a tree and broke off. The aircraft stalled, hit the ground and caught fire. All 6 passengers and crew died.^[6]
• 16 January 1958: a Cruzeiro do Sul cargo Fairchild C-82A-FA Packet registration PP-CEF crashed near Belém-Val de Cães when no.1 engine caught fire after take-off. The crew of 3 died.^[7]
• 11 August 1958: a Lóide Aéreo Nacional Douglas DC-4 registration PP-LEQ, crashed of unknown causes over Carapí Island, Pará while on a night time visual approach to Belém-Val de Cães. Of the 11 passengers and crew aboard, 1 passenger survived.^[8]
• 6 May 1959: a Paraense Curtiss C-46/Super C-46 Commando registration PP-BTA crashed shortly after take-off from Belém-Val de Cães. Three crew members died.^[9][10]
• 22 September 1960: a Paraense Curtiss C-46/Super C-46 Commando registration PP-BTF crashed shortly after take-off from Belém-Val de Cães. Seven occupants died.^[11][12]
• 14 December 1962: a Panair do Brasil Lockheed L-049 Constellation registration PP-PDE en route from Belém-Val de Cães to Manaus-Ponta Pelada crashed in the jungle, during a night approach, due to unknown causes, approximately 45 km from Manaus at the location of Paraná da Eva. All 50 passengers and crew died.^[13]
• 14 March 1970: a Paraense Fairchild Hiller FH-227B registration PP-BUF flying from Recife to Belém-Val de Cães, while on final approach to land, crashed into Guajará Bay. Of the 40 passengers and crew, 2 survived.^[14]
• 1 June 1973: a Cruzeiro do Sul Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle VIN registration PP-PDX flying from Belém-Val de Cães to São Luís crashed on approach to São Luís. Engine no.1 lost power and the aircraft attained an extreme nose-up attitude. It stalled and crashed 760m to the right of the runway. All 23 passengers and crew died.^[15]
• 24 February 1981: a Votec Embraer EMB110P Bandeirante registration PT-GLB flying from Tucuruí to Belém-Val de Cães collided with a ship in dry dock while approaching Belém in rain and high winds. The aircraft subsequently struck two barges and broke in two. The front part crashed onto a tug, and the tail section sank. Only 3 passengers of a total of 14 passengers and crew survived.^[16]
• 18 April 1984: a Votec Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante registration PT-GKL flying from Belém-Val de Cães to Imperatriz collided on air with another Votec Bandeirante, while on approach to land at Imperatriz. The pilot was able to make an emergency landing on Tocantins river and only one passenger died, whereas all 18 occupants of the other aircraft died.^[17]
• 3 September 1989: a Varig Boeing 737-241 registration PP-VMK operating flight 254 flying from São Paulo-Guarulhos to Belém-Val de Cães with intermediate stops, crashed near São José do Xingu while on the last leg of the flight between Marabá and Belém due to a pilot navigational error, which led to fuel exhaustion and a subsequent belly landing into the jungle, 450 miles (724 km) southwest of Marabá. Out of 54 occupants, there were 13 fatalities, all of them passengers. The survivors were discovered two days later.^[18]
• 6 June 1990: a TABA Fairchild Hiller FH-227 registration PT-ICA flying from Belém-Val de Cães to Altamira, while on approach to land at Altamira, descended below the approach path, collided with trees and crashed 850m short of the runway. Of the 43 passengers and crew, 22 died.^[19]
• 25 January 1993: a TABA Fairchild Hiller FH-227 registration PT-LCS operating a cargo flight from Belém-Val de Cães to Altamira crashed into the jungle near Altamira during night-time approach procedures. The crew of 3 died.^[20]
• 28 November 1995: a TABA Fairchild Hiller FH-227 registration PP-BUJ operating a cargo flight from Belém-Val de Cães to Santarém crashed on its second attempt to approach Santarém. The crew of 2 and 1 of the 2 occupants died.^[21]

Incident

• 8 October 1969: a Cruzeiro do Sul Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle VI R en route from Belém-Val de Cães to Manaus-Ponta Pelada was hijacked by 4 persons who demanded to be flown to Cuba. The hijack lasted less than a day and there were no victims.^[22]
• 12 November 1969: a Cruzeiro do Sul NAMC YS-11/11A en route from Manaus-Ponta Pelada to Belém-Val de Cães was hijacked by a person who demanded to be flown to Cuba. There were no victims.^[23]
• 4 July 1970: a Cruzeiro do Sul NAMC YS-11 en route from Belém-Val de Cães to Macapá was hijacked by 1 person and flown to Cayenne, Georgetown, Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and Jamaica.^[24]
• 3 February 1984: a Cruzeiro do Sul Airbus A300B4-203 operating flight 302 en route from São Luís to Belém-Val de Cães with 176 passengers and crew aboard was hijacked by 3 persons who demanded to be taken to Cuba. The flight reached Camagüey in less than a day. There were no victims.^[25]

Access

The airport is located 12 km (7 mi) from downtown Belém.

See also

• List of the busiest airports in Brazil

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

External links

Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Val_de_C%C3%A3es_International_Airport Val de Cães International Airport] at Wikimedia Commons

• Airport information for SBBE at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.Source: DAFIF.
• Airport information for SBBE at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF (effective Oct. 2006).
• Current weather for SBBE at NOAA/NWS
• Accident history for BEL at Aviation Safety Network