Brazilian Presidential Candidate Killed in Jet Crash

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Brazilian presidential candidate Eduardo Campos was among those killed Wednesday morning in the crash of a Cessna Citation XL in Santos, Brazil, according to CNN. The exact number of people killed in the crash wasn’t immediately known, but there were no survivors, Agencia Brasil reported, citing officials from Campos’ Brazilian Socialist Party. Campos, 49, was most recently the governor of Pernambuco state, and was a federal lawmaker from 1998 to 2003. The political figure, who was running in his first presidential election, was among the serious contenders, steady in third place in the polls.

The Cessna 560XL had departed from Santos Dumont airport in Rio de Janeiro en route to Guaraja airport in Sao Paulo state, Agencia Brasil reported. As the plane prepared to land it reportedly “swerved” because of bad weather, and immediately air traffic control lost contact with the plane, Agencia Brasil reported. One witness, a pilot trainee, told CNN he heard a loud noise and saw the plane flying really low.It was pitched down at 70 degrees, and “hit the ground like a rock,” Matheus Giovannini said, adding that it appeared to have hit a house, too.

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