The crash of a Beechcraft King Air C90GT on Thursday has taken the life of the Brazilian Supreme Court justice overseeing the criminal probe into that country's sweeping national corruption investigation generically known as "Car Wash." Rain and low visibility were reported in the area at the time, and witnesses reported seeing the turboprop twin in a steep bank before it hit the water. The flight originated 80 minutes earlier in São Paulo.
Judge Teori Zavascki, 68, and all three others aboard were killed when the 2007 King Air, registered to Brazilian luxury hotel chain Emiliano, crashed into the ocean off Rasa Island while approaching the resort town of Paraty. Emiliano's CEO, Carlos Filgueiras, was also killed in the accident.
"Car Wash," which centered around state-run oil company Petrobras and related enterprises, has had a large effect in Brazil, triggering the impeachment of former president Dilma Rousseff last year; ensnaring dozens of politicians and businessmen; and levying international multibillion-dollar fines against offending companies. The scandal also badly damaged investor confidence in Petrobras, which controls 90 percent of the offshore gas and petroleum helicopter demand in Brazil.