Cachimbo Airport is the military airport serving Campo de Provas Brigadeiro Velloso, a large Testing and Training complex of the

Brazilian Armed Forces The Brazilian Armed Forces ( pt, Forças Armadas Brasileiras, ) are the unified military forces of the Federative Republic of Brazil. Consisting of three service branches, it comprises the Brazilian Army (including the Brazilian Army Aviatio ...

located in

Serra do Cachimbo Serra do Cachimbo ( en, Cachimbo Mountains) is a low mountain range in Brazil, in the southern part of the state of Pará, located mostly in the municipalities of Altamira, Itaituba, Jacareacanga, and Novo Progresso. The Serra do Cachimbo compl ...

( en, Smoking pipe Mountains), in the southern part of the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Pará Pará is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian state) ...

, Brazil. It is operated by the

Brazilian Air Force "Wings that protect the country" , colours = , colours_label = , march = Hino dos Aviadores , mascot = , anniversaries = 22 May (anniver ...

History and development

The Testing and Training Complex of Campo de Provas Brigadeiro Velloso has an area of 21,588 km² and a perimeter of 653 km. It is within the limits of four municipalities:

Altamira Altamira may refer to: People * Altamira (surname) Places *Cave of Altamira, a cave in Cantabria, Spain famous for its paintings and carving *Altamira, Pará, a city in the Brazilian state of Pará * Altamira, Huila, a town and municipality in ...

Itaituba Itaituba is a city and municipality located in the state of Pará, Brazil, and one of the most important socioeconomic centers in the western region of the State. Location Itaituba is the fifteenth largest city (by population) in the State of ...

Jacareacanga Jacareacanga is a municipality in the state of Pará in the Northern region of Brazil. It is at the very centre of South America. Conservation The municipality contains the Crepori National Forest, created in 2006. It contains 14% of the Tapaj ...

and

Novo Progresso Novo Progresso is a municipality in the state of Pará in the Northern region of Brazil. The city is served by Novo Progresso Airport The municipality contains part of the Nascentes da Serra do Cachimbo Biological Reserve, a strictly protect ...

, in an area comparable in size to the Brazilian state of

Sergipe Sergipe (), officially State of Sergipe, is a state of Brazil. Located in the Northeast Region along the Atlantic coast of the country, Sergipe is the smallest state in Brazil by geographical area at , larger only than the Federal District. Serg ...

. The airport and the complex have their origins in an airfield opened on September 3, 1950. With the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the Brazilian government saw the need for a strategic support facility to the operation of aircraft flying between the Northern Region (location of the

Amazon Rainforest The Amazon rainforest, Amazon jungle or ; es, Selva amazónica, , or usually ; french: Forêt amazonienne; nl, Amazoneregenwoud. In English, the names are sometimes capitalized further, as Amazon Rainforest, Amazon Forest, or Amazon Jungle. ...

) and the Southeast Region of Brazil (the locations of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

and

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

), flying on a straight route. Before the construction of the airfield, the link was only possible to be operated with safety following the longer coastline route. The airfield was officially commissioned on January 20, 1954. In the 1970s studies were made in order to upgrade the facility to a Center for Testing Weapons and Training of the Brazilian Armed Forces, with the purpose of weapons development, bomb tests, experiments, training and maneuvers of national interest. Indeed, on March 7, 1983, the ''Campo de Testes do Cachimbo'' ( en, Cachimbo Testing Range), subordinated to the

Brazilian General Command for Aerospace Technology The Brazilian Department of Science and Aerospace Technology ( pt, Departamento de Ciência e Tecnologia Aeroespacial; DCTA) is the national military research center for aviation and space flight. It is subordinated to the Brazilian Air Force (FAB ...

was created. On January 17, 1995, the name of the complex was changed to Campo de Provas Brigadeiro-do-Ar Haroldo Coimbra Velloso, it was named after the commander who set-up the whole infra-structure of the complex. The name was changed again on July 30, 1997 to ''Campo de Provas Brigadeiro Velloso''. On August 18, 1979, its new renovated airfield was opened and given the name of Cachimbo Airport. The apron of the airport is large enough for up to 20 small aircraft with full support and maintenance facilities. One unit of the

Amazon Surveillance System The Amazon Surveillance System (SIVAM, pt, Sistema de Vigilância da Amazônia), is a complex surveillance system used for monitoring Amazônia Legal ("legal Amazon area"). This area includes the Brazilian rainforest, to curb the trafficking of ...

is also located at the airport.

Units, airlines and destinations

No military units are permanently based at Cachimbo, a military airport operated by the Brazilian Air Force, not an Air Force Base. It is for exclusive military use and therefore no scheduled flights operate at this airport.

Accidents and incidents

On 29 September 2006, a damaged executive

Embraer Legacy 600 The Embraer Legacy 600 is a business jet derivative of the Embraer ERJ 145 family of commercial jet aircraft. Design and development The Legacy 600 (market designation adopted after 2005) is based on the ERJ-135 model. It was launched in 2000 ...

performed an emergency landing at Cachimbo Airport, after having damaged its wing in a mid-air collision with a

Gol Transportes Aéreos Gol may refer to: Places * * Gol, Gilan, a village in Gilan Province, Iran * Gol, South Khorasan, a village in South Khorasan Province, Iran * Gol, Bukan, a village in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Gol, Chaldoran, a village in West Azerbaij ...

Boeing 737-800 operating as flight 1907. The Boeing subsequently crashed in the jungle, killing all 154 people on board.

History and development

Units, airlines and destinations

Accidents and incidents

Access

See also

References

External links