[3] The goal was to create a general purpose aircraft, suitable for both civilian and military roles with a low operational cost and high reliability.

[citation needed] It was to be equipped with turboprop engines, a low-mounted wing, and have sufficient capacity to accommodate eight personnel; these stipulations had been drawn from a study of Brazilian commercial air traffic, and aimed to produce an aircraft that would be well suited to the existing airport infrastructure of the country at that time.

[3] Construction of the prototype was supervised by the Brazilian aeronautical engineer Ozires Silva, who would also play a key role in founding and running of Embraer.

[4] On 26 October 1968, the first prototype, carrying the military designation YC-95, performed its maiden flight from São José dos Campos Airport.

[5] Piloted by José Mariotto Ferreira and accompanied by flight engineer Michel Cury, it landed after roughly 50 minutes.

While these prototypes yielded positive test results, it was recognised that market conditions had shifted to the point where an eight-seat aircraft appeared to be less viable than it had previously appeared; thus, it was decided to quickly redesign the EMB 100 into the EMB 110 Bandeirante, which featured several technological advances along with greater capacity.

[2] In May 1970, the programme was bolstered by the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) deciding to issue Embraer with an initial order for 80 production aircraft.

[citation needed] Various configurations and customisations were possible in order to suit customers' diverse requirements and operating conditions.

The passenger model first flew on 9 August 1972 and entered commercial service on 16 April 1973 with the now defunct Brazilian airline company Transbrasil.