Brazilian Singer Rick’s Helicopter Still Missing in Santa Catarina
Brazil · Search and rescue
Key Facts
- —What happened A Bell 430 helicopter carrying singer Rick and three others lost contact on 21 September 2026 over Santa Catarina’s mountains.
- —Who was aboard Rick, businessman Bruno Avelar, videomaker Paulo Soares and a pilot whose name has not been released, according to the singer’s press office.
- —Where teams are looking Rural Urubici, a highland town where the aircraft’s transponder last sent a signal, over 150 km by road from the state capital.
- —The catch Nothing had been found by about 6 a.m. local time on Tuesday, and no authority has confirmed a crash.
- —Who is searching Santa Catarina’s Military Fire Brigade, the Brazilian Air Force, the state Military Police and Civil Defence.
- —What slowed the search Rain, gales and a hail alert, per the fire brigade, and submerged bridges and fallen trees, per CNN Brasil.
A helicopter carrying Rick, of the country duo Rick & Renner, lost contact over the mountains of southern Brazil on Monday. Firefighters searched on the ground through the night, while Air Force aircraft waited for better weather.
The search for a helicopter carrying Brazilian country singer Rick entered its second day on Tuesday 22 September 2026. Rick, one half of the popular duo Rick & Renner, was aboard an aircraft that lost contact on Monday.
The Bell 430 disappeared over the mountains of Santa Catarina. The southern state lies between Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul and borders Argentina.
Firefighters searched on the ground through the night in rain and strong wind.
As of about 6 a.m. local time on Tuesday, neither the helicopter nor the four people on board had been found. The Santa Catarina fire brigade told CNN Brasil that searches continued throughout the night.
Four people aboard a borrowed aircraft
The singer’s press office said four people were on board. They were Rick, businessman Bruno Avelar, Avelar’s videomaker Paulo Soares and a pilot whose name has not been released.
A note on Avelar’s social media accounts spoke of five people aboard, while naming the same four.
The helicopter, registration PP-MGR, belongs to JTA Empreendimentos e Urbanismo, a property developer in the coastal town of Porto Belo. The company said it had lent it to Avelar and Rick, “close friends of the owner”.
Brazil’s civil aviation agency, ANAC, lists the aircraft as built in 2001, with seats for a pilot and seven passengers. Its registration is regular and its operating certificate runs until 11 August 2027. The news site G1 cited these agency records.
A lunch that never took place
The singer Rick and his group were flying from Porto Belo to São Joaquim, a town in the Santa Catarina highlands. Rick and Avelar were due to lunch there with the mayor, José Teodoro de Sena Amaral.
The meeting was set for about noon local time at the Vinícola Leone di Venezia winery. Its manager, Katary Paim, said the group left at about 11 a.m. local time.
By about 1 p.m., she said in a written statement, there was “no communication with the helicopter and its crew”.
The fire brigade received a call about a possible crash near Urubici at about 4 p.m. local time. Urubici is a mountain town some 59 km from São Joaquim.
Two search points, 30 km apart
Firefighters first went to Vacas Gordas, a rural area near Urubici flagged as the likely point of impact. They found nothing there.
“A team has already reached the site and nothing was found,” said Lieutenant Colonel Heloísa, commander of the 5th Military Firefighter Battalion. Teams then moved toward the last mobile-phone signal from one of the occupants.
The two areas lie about 30 km apart, according to the fire brigade. Around 20 firefighters worked the ground with four-wheel-drive vehicles and on foot.
Overnight, firefighters used a thermal drone in rural Urubici, G1 reported. That is where the aircraft’s transponder, the device that reports its position, last sent a signal.
Reinforcements from the 2nd and 5th Firefighter Battalions and a search dog were due from 6 a.m. local time on Tuesday. The state Military Police and Civil Defence are also taking part.
Air Force sends rescue aircraft
The Brazilian Air Force, known as the FAB, said it was called in on Monday afternoon. Its rescue coordination centre in Curitiba, known as Salvaero, is coordinating the search and rescue effort.
The FAB committed two aircraft specialised in search and rescue: a Black Hawk (H-60) helicopter and an SC-105 Amazonas plane. Because of the bad weather, the aircraft were expected to take off only on Tuesday, CNN Brasil reported.
Its priority, the FAB said in a statement, is “to locate the aircraft and its occupants in the shortest possible time”.
The federal weather agency, the National Institute of Meteorology, issued a red alert for the region on Monday. It warned of storms and heavy rain.
Search teams met submerged bridges and fallen trees and had to find other routes, CNN Brasil reported.
Overnight, some outlets reported that the helicopter had been found. Urubici’s mayor, Leandro de Souza Corrêa, denied this to the celebrity news site Portal LeoDias and said teams were still searching.
He also said that any aircraft or drone flight over the search locations was prohibited, according to CNN Brasil.
Who Rick and Bruno Avelar are
Rick, whose real name is Geraldo Antônio de Carvalho, is 59 and was born in the state of Tocantins. He moved to Brasília as a child and formed the duo with Renner there in the 1980s.
Sertanejo is a Brazilian country music style with roots in the rural interior. The duo’s biggest hit, “Ela é Demais”, came out on the 1998 album “Mil Vezes Cantarei”.
Bruno Avelar, 41, is a businessman and speaker from Belo Horizonte who runs a networking project called “O Poder do Network”. He is also an adviser to the presidential campaign of Augusto Cury, a candidate for the Avante party.
G1 reports that Avelar is close to the family of football star Neymar. In 2025 he took part in the talks that made Neymar a partner in the IronBerg gym business, according to G1.
Families ask for calm
Renner, the singer Rick’s duo partner, asked for prayers on social media, writing of “this moment of anguish and uncertainty”. “Let us keep faith and hope,” he added.
Avelar’s team asked the public not to spread speculation or unconfirmed information. JTA said the same, stressing that there was still no confirmation of an accident.
Authorities have not said what happened to the aircraft. Search teams planned to widen the operation as daylight returned on Tuesday.
More: Brazil coverage, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
Has the helicopter carrying singer Rick been found?
Not as of about 6 a.m. local time on Tuesday 22 September 2026. The Santa Catarina fire brigade told CNN Brasil that searches through the night had not located the aircraft or its occupants. The mayor of Urubici, the town at the centre of the search, denied overnight reports that the helicopter had been found.
Who was on the helicopter?
The singer’s press office said four people were aboard. They were Rick of Rick & Renner, businessman Bruno Avelar, videomaker Paulo Soares and a pilot. The pilot’s name has not been released. A note on Avelar’s social media spoke of five people but named the same four.
Where is the search taking place?
In the highlands of Santa Catarina, around the town of Urubici and toward São Joaquim, the flight’s destination. The helicopter took off from Porto Belo on the coast. Teams are working two points about 30 km apart: the last transponder signal and the last mobile-phone signal from one occupant.
Who owns the aircraft?
The Bell 430, registration PP-MGR, belongs to JTA Empreendimentos e Urbanismo, a property developer based in Porto Belo. The company said it had lent the helicopter to Avelar and Rick, whom it described as close friends of its owner. It said there was no confirmation of an accident.
Sources: G1 on the thermal-drone search, G1 on what is known, G1 on the fire brigade’s two search points, G1 on the planned lunch in São Joaquim, G1 on the owner’s statement, G1 on Bruno Avelar, CNN Brasil on the overnight search, CNN Brasil with the Air Force statement, BBC News Brasil on the occupants, O Tempo on the Urubici mayor
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error
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