High above the miles-long ribbons of daily traffic jams in Brazil’s largest city, São Paulo, there is luxurious freedom in the more than 420 helicopters that flit from rooftop to rooftop. According to Cleber Mansur, president of the Brazilian Helicopter Pilots Association, that number will approach 460 helicopters by 2010. And, he added, there are currently 260 helipads in this sprawling metropolis of more than 3,000 square miles.
It all began in the early 1990s, when main highways into the city became jammed, not merely at rush hour but virtually any hour. Today, São Paulo is home to some 20 million people and about 6 million automobiles, and a one-hour drive from Guarulhos International Airport to the city center became two and even three hours. Growing crime rates darkened the outlook. It was not unheard of for criminals to walk up to limos stuck in traffic and demand money from passengers. Worse still, passengers were sometimes forced from their vehicle, taken to the nearest automatic teller machine and ordered to empty their accounts.
More In Rotorcraft
