Brazil
The T6 was a Brazilian Air Force training aircraft, built in 1957 by the American manufacturer North American Aviation. On 17 October 1961, on its way to the Galeão Air Base, in Rio de Janeiro, the engine blew and the plane went down off the east side of Ilhabela, near Ilha dos Búzios. The pilot, Heinz Obrecht, and Lieutenant Braga made a forced landing on the sea and the plane sank within a minute, but both survived. The pilot was rescued by Francisco, a caiçara from Ilha dos Búzios.
In 1986, after a report from a caiçara, Jeannis Platon's team located the plane intact, with only its propeller bent. The following year it was raised to be taken to the Aeronautical Museum, in Rio de Janeiro, but it went back to the bottom because of the poor condition of the aluminium of its 8.8 m fuselage. Years later, a news report followed divers to the site, where they found the remains of the plane, and on that occasion the pilot was reunited with the caiçara who had saved him. The wreckage on the bottom is dismantled, and parts of the plane are on display at the Ilhabela Nautical Museum.
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