Rick's Phone May Have Answered Calls During Helicopter Search

A briefing on attempted contact with singer Rick, from duo Rick & Renner, raises questions about the helicopter crash that left five dead in Santa Catarina. During the search for the aircraft, which disappeared on Monday (21st), cell phone signals of the occupants were used by the rescue teams to try to locate the group in the Serra Catarinense.

According to reports, calls made to the singer's phone were answered after the accident, but communication was interrupted soon after without a response. The situation raised the possibility that some of the occupants had initially survived the crash of the aircraft.

See also: See images of the site where helicopter with singer Rick crashed in Santa Catarina

However, it has not been confirmed that Rick or any other occupants answered the calls, nor that the deaths occurred some time after the accident. What is confirmed is that the firefighters used telephone information to direct the search operation.

Cellphone signal helped drive searches

On Monday night (21), the Santa Catarina Military Fire Department identified, through triangulation, a cell phone signal in a region of the Serra Catarinense. The corporation explained that the record could be related to a phone call. From this information, the teams traveled by land to the area indicated to carry out new searches.

The operation took into account two distinct regions: Vacas Gordas, in Urubici, where the last known location of the helicopter had been recorded, and Morro Agudo, where signals from cellular devices were identified. The two points were about 30 kilometers apart.

Rick's cell phone would have sent signal during the night

Other information about the singer's device was released by businessman Pablo Marçal, a friend of Bruno Avelar, who was also in the helicopter. According to Marçal, Rick's cell phone would have sent a signal at 19:49 on Monday (21), hours after the disappearance of the aircraft.

The information was published by the Metrópoles portal, during the search operation. At the time, the businessman mentioned the possibility that the helicopter had made a forced landing due to weather conditions. However, registering a cell phone signal does not necessarily mean that its owner was aware or using the device at that time.

Phone triangulation can indicate an approximate region where a certain device is located, but it does not allow establishing the physical conditions of its owner. There is also no confirmation that the signal recorded at 19:49 was produced after the helicopter crashed.

Can victims have survived the accident initially?

The possibility that the occupants remained alive after the fall has not yet been proven. To clarify this hypothesis, it will be necessary to determine the approximate time of the accident, the circumstances of the telephone contacts and the causes of the deaths.

This information depends on the analysis of technical records, expert examinations and the results of the investigation. Until the publication of this report, there was no official confirmation that the firefighters were able to talk to Rick or any other occupants after the aircraft disappeared.

Therefore, it is not yet possible to establish whether the victims died at the time of the impact or subsequently.

A helicopter was found with five dead.

The helicopter carrying the singer Rick was located around noon on Tuesday, in a forest region in the Serra Catarinense. The Archangel 03 aircraft, from the Fire Department, found the wreckage after an operation that mobilized approximately 40 firefighters, two search and rescue dogs, more than ten vehicles and drones equipped with thermal cameras.

The five occupants were found dead. Among them were singer Rick, 59, and businessman Bruno Avelar. The helicopter had taken off from Porto Belo, on the North Coast of Santa Catarina, bound for São Joaquim, in the Serra Catarinense, on Monday (21). The aircraft did not reach its intended destination.

Investigation should clarify the circumstances of the tragedy

After the wreckage was located, the Fire Department began the procedures for the removal of the victims. The Scientific Police will be responsible for the expert examinations, while the competent bodies will have to investigate the circumstances of the fall.

In addition to the cause of the accident, telephone communications records can contribute to the reconstruction of the sequence of events, if they are obtained and analyzed by investigators. Confirmation that an occupant survived the impact depends on expert evidence. So far, this hypothesis remains unproven.