The morning of Monday (21) began like any other tour dispatch. In an Instagram story, singer Rick appears beside businessman Bruno Avelar at an airport in Jundiaí, in São Paulo state, boarding a private jet bound for Santa Catarina, where the two would continue by helicopter. By nightfall, the same video was being shared across Brazil with a very different weight. The aircraft carrying the singer had lost contact after taking off from Porto Belo, on the northern coast of Santa Catarina, and never arrived at its destination, São Joaquim, in the state's mountain highlands. The artists' press office confirmed that Rick was on board.
The search in the mountains
According to Folha de S.Paulo, the singer and Avelar boarded the jet at 7:32 a.m. in Jundiaí, with landing scheduled for 8:36 a.m. at the Costa Verde airport, in Campo Belo. The newspaper reported that a videomaker and the pilot were also on the helicopter, their identities not released, while the news site ND+ spoke of a pilot, a co-pilot and three passengers. Rescue teams had not officially confirmed how many people were aboard. The aircraft is a Bell 430, registration PP-MGR, built in 2021, seating seven passengers plus the pilot, and Porto Belo lies about 190 kilometers from Urubici, the highland region where the search is centered.
Called out at around 4 p.m., firefighters from Santa Catarina are working with the possibility of a crash, which remains unconfirmed. The operation focuses on two points about 30 kilometers apart: the Vacas Gordas locality, identified as the likely crash site, where a team from Urubici found no trace of the aircraft, and the area where the last cell phone signal from one of the occupants was registered, near São Joaquim. About 20 firefighters are combing difficult terrain on foot and in 4x4 vehicles, and, according to Correio Braziliense, a search-and-rescue dog is to join the work on Tuesday morning (22) if the helicopter is not found. The Brazilian Air Force (FAB) has deployed an H-60 Black Hawk helicopter and an SC-105 Amazonas plane, coordinated by its aviation rescue center in Curitiba. According to news site g1, the weather over the search area was poor, with rain, gale-force winds and a hail alert.
According to Anac, Brazil's civil aviation agency, the aircraft's paperwork was in order, with an airworthiness certificate valid until August 11, 2027, although it was not authorized for commercial air taxi service or training flights. The helicopter belongs to JTA Empreendimentos e Urbanismo. Per ND+, the company has a partnership in Porto Belo with the Neymar Jr. ecosystem, linked to the Santos footballer, and the site describes Avelar as a coach and businessman close to Neymar. In a statement, JTA confirmed that the aircraft had been lent to Avelar and to Rick:
"JTA informs that its helicopter, lent for the use of Bruno Avelar and singer Rick, close friends of the company's owner, is at this moment missing. There is still no confirmation of an accident involving the aircraft. The information is being verified with the competent authorities."
From Tocantins to the sertanejo stage
Rick Sollo, the stage name of Geraldo Antônio de Carvalho, is 59. Born in Monte do Carmo, in the state of Tocantins, on December 5, 1966, he started in music as a boy, encouraged by his father, and sang in bars of Brasília with his sister before forming, in 1986, the duo with Renner Reis that made him famous across Brazil. Sertanejo, the country-style genre that dominates Brazilian popular music, gave the pair a run of standards from the late 1990s onward, including "Ela é Demais", "Nos Bares da Cidade", "Cara de Pau" and "Filha", and the singer remained active on stages around the country.
In the video he posted in the morning, Rick and Avelar greet each other outside a hangar, beside a white jet, before setting off. As of the filing of this report, there was no confirmation of a crash and no sign of the aircraft. In its statement, JTA asked for caution, saying that any information not officially confirmed should be treated as unverified. In the Santa Catarina highlands the night fell overcast, with rain and wind, as the teams kept searching for the helicopter.