MANAUS, BRAZIL – A failed maneuver on a clandestine airstrip led to the death of pilot Fábio Santana Paiva, 36. The crash occurred near the municipality of Manacapuru, in the interior of the Brazilian state of Amazonas.
Footage recorded by people who were with the victim at the site shows a single-engine aircraft attempting to take off. The plane struck trees at the end of the runway, killing the pilot.
Paiva’s body was removed from the area and later found by workers in an advanced state of decomposition on a highway some distance from the clandestine airstrip. Civil and Military Police were called in to investigate the case.
Paiva, who had been reported missing since last Sunday (18), was identified by his wife at the Manacapuru morgue. Police, who obtained the footage, are investigating whether the incident is linked to drug trafficking in the region.

Agência Amazônia