Olympic Flame Is Already Burning in Brazil
Brasilia – The flame that will travel the country for three months before arriving at the mythical Maracana Stadium to inaugurate the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, arrived on Brazilian soil on Tuesday, at the President Juscelino Kubitschek International Airport in this capital.
The plane, which departed on Monday from Geneva, Switzerland, entered Brazil’s air space at 03:18 hours, local time, on Tuesday, and was welcomed by the Third Integrated Center of Air Defense and Traffic Control of Recife, Pernambuco, according to a communiqué from the Brazilian Air Force.
When contact was established with the Boeing 767-300ER plane of Latam Airlines, the aircraft was 340 kilometers off the coast of Brazil, at 10,600 meters above sea level on the Atlantic Ocean, the source added.
In order to mark the arrival of the symbolic flame in Brazil, two F-5M fighters from the Jaguar Squad escorted the airliner to this capital and overflew the National Congress and the Esplanade of Ministries.
The official ceremony to welcome the Olympic flame is scheduled for 09:00 hours, local time, at the Planalto Palace, the venue of the Presidency of the Republic, from where it will taken to the Parliament before starting a tour of 105 kilometers in the city.
