Brazilian authorities investigating cause of plane crash that killed 62 people
Local airline Voepass' plane, an ATR 72 twin-engine turboprop, was headed for Sao Paulo’s international airport when it went down in the city of Vinhedo, ITV News' Anna Geary reports
Brazilian authorities are investigating what caused the plane crash in Sao Paulo that killed all 62 people on board on Friday.
Local airline Voepass' plane, an ATR 72 twin-engine turboprop, was headed for Sao Paulo’s international airport in Guarulhos with 58 passengers and four crew members when it went down in the city of Vinhedo.
Initially, the company said its plane had 62 passengers, then it revised the number to 61 and early on Saturday it raised the figure once again after it found a passenger named was not on its original list.
Flight tracking data shows that the plane dropped 17,000 feet in just one minute, but it is not yet clear why.
Images recorded by witnesses showed the aircraft in a flat spin and plunging vertically before it hit the ground inside a gated community. Residents said there were no injuries on the ground.
Footage filmed just after the crash shows the remains of the plane in flames
Sao Paulo state government said in a statement that as of Saturday afternoon, 50 bodies had been removed from the wreckage, and two had been identified by forensics experts.
Brazilian authorities began transferring the corpses to the morgue Friday, and called on victims’ family members to bring any medical, X-ray and dental exams to help identify the bodies.
Interrupting a speech at an afternoon naval event to address the crash, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called for a minute of silence to mark the deaths of the flight’s passengers and crew.
A man who was set to be on the flight but missed it because he was late spoke to Brazilian TV.
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He said: "The guy said I wasn't going to board any more. I argued with him, and he saved my life."
It was the world's deadliest airline crash since January 2023, when 72 people died on board a Yeti Airlines plane in Nepal that stalled and crashed while making its landing approach. That plane also was an ATR 72, and the final report blamed pilot error for the incident.
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