Search for Rick Sollo’s missing helicopter shifts as storms batter Santa Catarina

Search for Rick Sollo’s missing helicopter shifts as storms batter Santa Catarina
Search teams in southern Brazil have shifted their focus in the hunt for a helicopter carrying singer Rick Sollo, businessman Bruno Avelar, a videomaker and a pilot after it lost contact on a flight from Porto Belo to São Joaquim, in Santa Catarina state.

The two reports agree that authorities have not confirmed a crash or located the Bell 430, registration PP-MGR. The aircraft’s owner, JTA Empreendimentos e Urbanismo, said it had been lent for use by Sollo and Avelar, and cautioned: “There is still no confirmation of an accident involving the aircraft.”

One account emphasizes the breadth of the official response. Firefighters, the Brazilian Air Force and military police were deployed after the alert was received at about 4 p.m.; roughly 20 firefighters searched on foot and in four-wheel-drive vehicles, while the Air Force used two aircraft and police made drones available. Initial work around Vacas Gordas, in Urubici, found no trace of the helicopter.

The other account focuses more closely on how a passenger’s last cellphone signal altered the operation. It says crews expanded their work to two areas about 30 kilometres apart, including a point nearer São Joaquim, and continued through the night in dense forest. Avelar’s team also urged the public not to circulate unconfirmed information.

Weather is the central constraint in both versions. They cite rain, strong winds and difficult mountain access; the latter adds that the area was under a red storm alert, with forecasts of winds above 100 km/h and possible hail. It reports submerged bridges, fallen trees and elevated waterways have forced ground teams to seek alternative routes, while poor conditions have at times restricted aircraft use.

The accounts converge on the immediate priority: narrowing the search area and resuming fuller air operations once conditions permit. The Air Force has mobilized a Black Hawk H-60 helicopter and an SC-105 Amazonas search-and-rescue plane, according to the overnight report.

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