doing what he loved most, according to a post on the lodge's official account
Na tarde de um sábado chuvoso, uma pequena aeronave que transportava catorze pessoas desapareceu nos céus do interior amazônico, perto de Barcelos, sem deixar sobreviventes. Entre os mortos estava Roland Montenegro Costa, cirurgião renomado de Brasília que havia trocado o bisturi por uma vara de pesca em sua viagem anual ao Rio Negro. O acidente, ocorrido enquanto outras aeronaves abandonavam a tentativa de pouso pelas condições adversas, lembra-nos que a fragilidade da vida não respeita reputações nem rotinas — e que a floresta guarda, indiferente, os sonhos e os destinos que cruzam seus céus.
- Chuva intensa castigava a pista de Barcelos no momento em que a aeronave fretada iniciou sua aproximação final — duas outras aeronaves já haviam desistido do pouso e desviado para outro destino.
- O avião caiu próximo ao aeródromo sem deixar nenhum sobrevivente entre os catorze a bordo, entre passageiros que vinham de Brasília, Uberlândia e Goiás.
- A identificação dos corpos não pôde ser feita imediatamente; os restos mortais foram transportados de Barcelos para Manaus no domingo para exames e reconhecimento formal.
- O Conselho Regional de Medicina do Distrito Federal confirmou a morte do cirurgião Roland Montenegro Costa, enquanto colegas e legisladores prestavam homenagens públicas a sua trajetória pioneira na cirurgia de transplantes.
- As causas do acidente seguem sob investigação, com as condições meteorológicas severas no centro das atenções, mas falha mecânica e erro humano ainda não foram descartados.
Uma aeronave de pequeno porte caiu perto da pista de Barcelos, no interior do Amazonas, na tarde de sábado, durante uma chuva forte. Todos os catorze ocupantes morreram. Dois outros aviões que sobrevoavam a região optaram por abandonar a tentativa de pouso pouco antes do acidente, sinalizando as condições extremas que se abatiam sobre o local.
Entre as vítimas estava Roland Montenegro Costa, cirurgião digestivo de 58 anos e professor do Hospital de Base do Distrito Federal, reconhecido em Brasília como pioneiro na cirurgia de transplantes. Ele viajava para o Rio Negro em uma pescaria esportiva anual com amigos — uma tradição que exigia o fretamento de uma aeronave menor após o voo comercial até Manaus, já que o trajeto fluvial levaria quase doze horas. A aeronave tinha autorização da ANAC e situação de aeronavegabilidade registrada como normal.
Também morreram no acidente Gilcrésio Salvador Medeiros, de 74 anos, dono da pousada Serra da Mesa em Niquelândia, Goiás, e cinco ex-funcionários do grupo de telecomunicações Algar, de Uberlândia, cujos nomes não foram divulgados pela empresa, que emitiu nota de condolências. A identificação completa das vítimas dependia de exames realizados em Manaus, para onde os corpos foram transportados no domingo.
O deputado estadual Jorge Vianna prestou homenagem pública a Costa, enumerando suas contribuições à medicina e ao ensino cirúrgico. Nas redes sociais, colegas e conhecidos expressaram consternação. A causa do acidente permanece sob investigação.
A small aircraft carrying fourteen people descended toward the airstrip near Barcelos on Saturday afternoon, deep in the Amazon interior, as rain hammered the region. It never landed. The plane went down without survivors, scattering the remains of tourists, crew, and at least one man whose name would soon appear in medical journals and hospital records across Brasília.
Roland Montenegro Costa was fifty-eight years old, a surgeon who had spent his career studying the digestive system and teaching younger doctors at the Hospital de Base do Distrito Federal. He was known in Brasília's medical circles as a pioneer in transplant surgery, a man who had built a private practice and a reputation for precision. On this Saturday, he was not in his office. He was traveling to the Rio Negro region for sport fishing, part of an annual tradition among a group of friends who gathered each year to fish the Amazon's waters.
The journey to reach those rivers required planning. The group would fly from Brasília to Manaus on a commercial airline, then charter a smaller aircraft to reach Barcelos or Santa Isabel. The river route took nearly twelve hours; flying took far less time, which is why they preferred the plane. This year, like others before it, they had arranged a charter. The aircraft had proper authorization from Brazil's National Civil Aviation Agency. Its airworthiness status was listed as normal. Everything appeared in order.
But on Saturday afternoon, as the plane approached the Barcelos airstrip, conditions deteriorated. Heavy rain swept across the landing zone. Two other aircraft already in the area made the decision to abort their landing attempts and divert elsewhere. The charter plane continued its descent. It crashed near the airstrip, killing all aboard.
Among the dead was Gilcrésio Salvador Medeiros, seventy-four years old, who owned the Serra da Mesa lodge in Niquelândia, Goiás, roughly two hundred sixty kilometers from Brasília. He had been doing what he loved most, according to a post on the lodge's official social media account. Five more victims came from Uberlândia in the state of Minas Gerais—all former employees of the Algar telecommunications group, which issued a statement of condolence without releasing their names.
The bodies could not be immediately identified. Authorities needed to conduct examinations before releasing a full list of victims. The remains were being transported by air from Barcelos to Manaus on Sunday, the day after the crash, for processing. The Conselho Regional de Medicina, the medical licensing board for the Federal District, confirmed Costa's death and released a statement of solidarity with his family and friends. On social media, people who had known him shared their grief.
Deputy Jorge Vianna, a state legislator, spoke about Costa's career—his pioneering work in transplantation, his role as a professor of general surgery, his private practice. These were the markers of a life spent in medicine. Now they were being recited as part of a death notice.
The cause of the crash remained under investigation. The weather at the moment of impact was severe. Two other aircraft had already refused to land. Whether mechanical failure, pilot error, or the force of the storm itself brought the plane down would take time to determine. For now, there was only the fact of the crash, the count of the dead, and the work of identifying them.
Citações Notáveis
He was doing what he loved most in life: fishing— Serra da Mesa lodge, on the death of owner Gilcrésio Salvador Medeiros
The CRM-DF unites in solidarity with the family and friends in this moment of pain— Conselho Regional de Medicina do Distrito Federal
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does a surgeon from Brasília matter enough to name him in a story about a plane crash in the Amazon?
Because he wasn't anonymous. He had built something—a practice, a reputation, a place in an institution. When someone like that dies, it ripples through a community. The medical board felt it enough to issue a statement.
The story mentions that two other planes didn't land. Does that suggest the pilot made a mistake?
It suggests the weather was genuinely dangerous. Whether the pilot should have also diverted is what investigators will try to answer. The fact that others turned back tells you how bad conditions were.
Why do they go fishing every year? Is that important?
It shows this wasn't a random trip. These were people with a ritual, a tradition. They had done this before. That makes the loss feel more deliberate somehow—a thing they chose to do together, year after year, until one year they didn't come back.
The bodies had to be flown to Manaus for identification. What does that tell you?
That Barcelos is remote. That there's no capacity there to process fourteen bodies. That even in death, these people had to travel further into the Amazon before they could be brought home.
Does the story say what caused the crash?
No. It says the investigation is ongoing. All we know is the weather was terrible and the plane went down. Sometimes that's all you have in the first hours.