A private jet carrying singer Rey Vaqueiro and seven other people burst into flames after running off the runway at an airfield in Parelhas, Brazil, in the early hours of Sunday. All eight people on board escaped the aircraft before the fire spread, and nobody was injured.
Escape and fire
The pilot, co-pilot, Rey and the five other passengers managed to get out of the Cessna 550 Bravo before it was destroyed in the blaze. Both engines caught fire, and firefighters spent five hours tackling the flames. The Fire Department said: “Firefighters tackled the blaze and cooled the engines while the remaining fuel burned off.”
The aircraft belonged to a mining company and was landing at its airfield. Rey, 26, had performed in Moreno hours earlier and was due to perform at the rural settlement in Parelhas at 2.30am. The runway reportedly had no problems, and the aircraft’s airworthiness certificate was valid.
Singer’s condition and schedule
The singer, whose real name is David Linhares Pereira de Sousa, was taken to a local hospital along with his team and crew for medical checks, and they are said to be doing well. Minutes earlier, another aircraft carrying other members of Rey’s team had landed without incident.
Rey is from São Paulo but sings traditional music from rural north-eastern Brazil. His schedule for this month included 33 shows and just four days off. His 2025 song “Body Splash” has 19m views on YouTube. Because of the accident, Rey cancelled his shows scheduled for Sunday in Custódia and Canhotinho. CENIPA, Brazil’s aviation accident investigation agency, will investigate the accident.
