Embraer today celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first flight of is Bandeirante turboprop twin—the company’s inaugural aircraft model. Today’s ceremony recreated the October 26, 1968, first flight of the regional turboprop from Brazil’s São José dos Campos Airport.

In the two decades after entering production in 1969, Embraer manufactured and delivered 498 Bandeirantes. Today, about 150 of these aircraft are still operating at airlines, air taxis, government entities, and air forces in the Americas, Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East.

"The Bandeirante represented much more than an aircraft; it marked a new cycle of transformation for Brazilian industry. It represents a Brazil that is bold, capable of uniting competence, talent, and innovation," said Embraer president and CEO Paulo Cesar de Souza e Silva. "This commemorative date offers us an opportunity to be grateful and to celebrate the pioneers of Embraer and of the Brazilian aeronautical industry…who have pioneered the frontiers of aeronautical technology. Embraer today is a company that competes on equal technological conditions with the world's largest because 50 years ago a group of engineers, designers, and pilots dared to bring to life an aircraft that became a legend.”