Passenger plane crash in Brazil kills all 61 on board

Aerial view of the wreckage of an airplane that crashed with 61 people on board in Vinhedo, Sao Paulo State, Brazil, on Aug. 9, 2024. Photo by AFP

The aircraft, an ATR 72-500 operated by Voepass airline, was traveling from Cascavel in southern Parana state to Sao Paulo’s Guarulhos international airport when it crashed in the city of Vinhedo.

Voepass initially said the plane was carrying 58 passengers, but a statement on the airline’s website later revised the figure to 57.

Images broadcast on local media showed a large plane spinning as it plummeted almost vertically, while other footage showed a large column of smoke rising from the crash site in what appeared to be a residential area.

“There were no survivors,” the city government in Valinhos — which was involved in the rescue and recovery operation in nearby Vinhedo — said in an announcement to AFP.

Vinhedo, with about 76,000 residents, is located approximately 80 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of Sao Paulo.

Recovery of the victims’ remains for “identification” has begun and “will continue throughout the night,” Sao Paulo State Governor Tarcisio de Freitas told reporters at the scene.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva declared three days of mourning.

Voepass said it was cooperating with authorities to “determine the causes of the accident,” while giving full assistance to families of the victims on flight 2283.

The plane, a twin-engine turboprop, took off “without any flight restrictions, with all its systems operational,” the company said.

Brazil’s CENIPA aviation accident agency has launched an investigation.

ATR, a Franco-Italian aircraft maker and Airbus subsidiary, said its experts were working to help investigators.

‘Terrifying’

Truck driver Martins Barbosa, 49, was working when he learned of the plane crash, which occurred 150 meters (500 feet) from his home.

“I thought it might have fallen on my house, with my son inside,” he told AFP, adding he felt despondent before learning his family was okay.

Nathalie Cicari, who lives near the crash site, told CNN Brasil the impact was “terrifying.”

“I was having lunch, I heard a very loud noise very close by,” she said, describing the sound as drone-like but “much louder.”

“I went out on the balcony and saw the plane spinning. Within seconds, I realized that it was not a normal movement for a plane.”

Cicari was not hurt but had to evacuate her house, which was filled with black smoke from the crash.

“I arrived at the scene and saw many bodies on the ground — many of them,” another witness, Ricardo Rodrigues, told local Band News.

Firefighters, military police and state civil defense were deployed at the scene.

Military police told local media the accident had not caused any casualties on the ground, and that the fire sparked by the crash had been brought under control.

The plane’s black box “has already been found, apparently preserved,” Sao Paulo state security official Guilherme Derrite told reporters at the scene.

The doomed plane recorded its first flight in April 2010, according to the website planespotters.net.

Air safety has improved dramatically in recent decades, with deadly passenger plane crashes becoming ever-more rare worldwide, though more frequent in developing nations.

Excluding Friday’s crash, CENIPA data shows Brazil has recorded 108 aircraft accidents so far this year, resulting in 49 deaths. Over the last ten years, 746 people have died in 1,665 accidents in the country.

In January 2023, another ATR 72 operated by Yeti Airlines crashed after stalling in Nepal, killing all 72 on board.

Nepalese authorities attributed the incident to pilot error.