Recife Air Force Base

For the civilian use of this facility and airport information, see Recife/Guararapes–Gilberto Freyre International Airport.

Base Aérea do Recife – BARF (IATA: REC, ICAO: SBRF) was a base of the Brazilian Air Force, located in Recife, Brazil.

Recife Air Force Base
Base Aérea de Recife
Recife, Pernambuco in Brazil
A Boeing SB-17G Flying Fortress on display at Recife in 2020
Site information
Type	Air Force Base
Code	BARF
Owner	Brazilian Air Force
Controlled by	Brazilian Air Force
Open to the public	No
Website	www.fab.mil.br/organizacoes/mostra/46/BASE%20A%C3%89REA%20DE%20RECIFE
Location
SBRF Location in Brazil
Coordinates	08°07′35″S 034°55′22″W
Site history
In use	1941-2024
Garrison information
Current commander	Cel. Av. Isaac Cordeiro da Fonseca Neto
Airfield information
Identifiers	IATA: REC, ICAO: SBRF, LID: PE0001
Elevation	10 metres (33 ft) AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 18/36 2,751 metres (9,026 ft) Asphalt
Source: DECEA[1]

It shared some facilities with Recife/Guararapes–Gilberto Freyre International Airport.

History

Recife Air Force Base was created on 24 July 1941 by Decree 3,459.^[2]

The Air Force Base was decommissioned on July 24, 2024.^[3]

Units

Since January 2017, there were no permanent flying units assigned to Recife Air Force Base. Whenever needed, the aerodrome is used as a support facility to other air units of the Brazilian Air Force, Navy and Army.

Former units

May 1969–January 2018: 2nd Squadron of Air Transportation (2°ETA) Pastor. The squadron was moved to Natal Air Force Base.^[4]

Access

The base was located 14 km from downtown Recife.

Accidents and incidents

• 28 July 1968: a United States Air Force Douglas C-124C Globemaster II registration 51–5178, flying from Paramaribo-Zanderij to Recife, while on approach to land at Recife, flew into a 1890 feet high hill 80 km away from Recife. The 10 occupants died.^[5]
• 21 December 1969: a Brazilian Air Force Lockheed C-130E Hercules registration FAB-2450 crashed shortly after takeoff. All 7 occupants died.^[6]
• 23 October 1992: a Brazilian Air Force Embraer C-95 Bandeirante registration FAB-2243 crashed in the vicinity of the Base while operating on a low level display flight. All 5 occupants died.^[7]

Gallery

This gallery displays aircraft that have been based at Fortaleza. The gallery is not comprehensive.

• 
  Douglas C-47 Dakota
• 
  Embraer C-95B Bandeirante (FAB)
• 
  Embraer C-97 Brasília (FAB)
• 
  Cessna C-98A Caravan (FAB)

See also

• Aviation portal
• Brazil portal

• List of Brazilian military bases
• Recife/Guararapes–Gilberto Freyre International Airport