Brazil Candidate For President Eduardo Campos Dies In Jet Crash

Brazil’s presidential election took a dramatic turn Wednesday morning, when candidate Eduardo Campos of the Brazilian Socialist Party, or PSB, was killed in an airplane crash in the coastal city of Santos , Brazilian Air Force officials confirmed.

Campos was traveling to Sao Paulo, Brazil’s industrial and agricultural heartland, to make a campaign appearance when the Cessna Citation 560XL jet he was traveling went down in the city of Santos. Santos, home to one of the world’s busiest ports, is in Sao Paulo state and located along Brazil’s southeast coast. The plane had left Rio de Janeiro earlier Wednesday morning. The crash killed all seven people that were aboard the plane at the time it went down, including Campos, four other passengers and two pilots.

Eduardo Campos, the Brazilian Socialist Party’s candidate for president, was killed Wednesday in an airplane crash in Santos, Brazil. Campos was on the campaign trail when the jet crashed in bad weather.

The cause of the accident was not immediately known, officials said. Witnesses told the O Globo television network that the jet was already in flames as it hurtled toward the ground, flying perpendicular to the ground between two buildings shortly before it hit the ground and exploded. Television images showed smoke billowing from a residential neighborhood. Poor weather hung over Santos at the time of the accident, with rain hampering rescue efforts and investigation of the site. Press reports indicated that investigators had already recovered the jet’s flight recorders, or black boxes.

Neighbors shot cellphone video of the area where the plane went down:

Campos was considered one of the leading challengers to incumbent President Dilma Rousseff, whose popularity has tumbled over the past year amid rising consumer prices and slowing economic growth.

Campos placed third in a recent voters poll, with 9% of voters polled supporting the candidate. Rousseff remained in first place at 38%, while Sen. Aecio Neves was second at 23%. Brazilians head to the polls to vote for president Oct. 5.

“This is a time of grief, this is a time of sadness,” Rousseff said in a televised statement. The president declared a state of mourning for the next three days in the wake of Campos death. Both Rousseff and Neves are expected to shut down campaign activities for about a week.

Despite trailing in the polls, Campos was considered a viable candidate to upset Rousseff in October’s elections because of his alliance with former presidential candidate Marina Silva. Silva showed very strong in the last election cycle, placing third after making a surprising run at Rousseff. It’s unclear whether Silva will now take Campos’ place as candidate for the PSB. Press reports indicated that Silva met with Campos earlier Wednesday, turning down the presidential candidate’s offer of a ride in the doomed aircraft.

“This is, without a shadow of a doubt, a tragedy,” Silva said of her running mate’s death. “Together, we started to create the hope for a better and more-just world.”

The PSB has 10 days to submit another name for the party’s presidential ticket.

“If the party does indeed support her, then Ms. Silva could well broaden the party’s appeal and make the presidential contest into a three-horse race with greater uncertainty over the outcome,” said Robert Wood, Brazil analyst for The Economist Intelligence Unit. Brazil’s election, however, will likely come down to a second-round runoff between Rousseff and Neves, with Rousseff prevailing, Wood said. But should Silva decline to head the PSB’s ticket or the party opt for a different candidate, Rousseff’s chances of winning the 50% plus one vote she needs to claim victory in the first round would be increased, according to the analyst.

Residents of the neighborhood where the jet went down also posted photos of the accident site:
Campos, 49, was an economist and national leader of the PSB. The longtime Brazilian congressman announced his candidacy for president in April, gaining momentum when he later reached a deal to add Silva to the PSB’s ticket as vice president. Campos also previously served as governor of Pernambuco state in Brazil’s northeast.

Campos was considered a business-friendly candidate, with parts of his platform cheering investors. Campos pledged to end the heavy handed government interference in state-run oil company Petrobras , allowing the company to raise domestic fuel prices and generate the cash the firm needs to explore massive offshore oil deposits.