VINHEDO, Brazil (AP) — Brazilian government labored Saturday to piece in combination what precisely led to a aircraft crash in Sao Paulo state yesterday that killed all 62 folks on boar d. Rescue groups took dozens of our bodies from the wreckage and households began collecting to spot their stays.Native airline Voepass’ aircraft, an ATR 72 twin-engine turboprop, was once headed for Sao Paulo’s global airport in Guarulhos with 58 passengers and 4 staff participants, when it went down within the town of Vinhedo. To begin with, the corporate stated its aircraft had 62 passengers, then it revised the quantity to 61 and early on Saturday it raised the determine as soon as once more after it discovered a passenger named Constantino Thé Maia was once no longer on its authentic listing.Voepass additionally stated 3 passengers who held Brazilian identity additionally carried Venezuelan paperwork and one had Portuguese.
Sao Paulo state govt stated in a commentary that as of Saturday afternoon 50 our bodies have been got rid of from the wreckage, and two have been known by way of forensics professionals. Previous, Maycon Cristo, a spokesman for the native fireplace division, advised newshounds in Vinhedo {that a} winch is getting used to take away portions of the aircraft’s carcass from the bottom.
“As we see a conceivable frame in the course of the destruction of the aircraft, rescue groups are available in. Then they take footage, collect as a lot proof from the sufferer as they are able to so the identity can also be probably the most correct,” Cristo stated.
Brazilian government started shifting the corpses to the morgue Friday, and known as on sufferers’ members of the family to carry any clinical, X-ray and dental tests to lend a hand establish the our bodies. Blood checks have been additionally accomplished to lend a hand identity efforts.Photographs recorded by way of witnesses confirmed the airplane in a flat spin and plunging vertically earlier than smashing to the bottom inside of a gated group, and leaving an obliterated fuselage fed on by way of fireplace. Citizens stated there have been no accidents at the flooring.
Rain drizzled down on rescue staff as they recovered the primary our bodies from the scene within the relax of the Southern Hemisphere’s iciness. Some citizens of the gated group silently left to spend the night time in different places. None have been noticed returning on Saturday.It was once the sector’s deadliest airline crash since January 2023, when 72 folks died on board a Yeti Airways aircraft in Nepal that stalled and crashed whilst making its touchdown method. That aircraft additionally was once an ATR 72, and the overall document blamed pilot error.Metsul, certainly one of Brazil’s most famous meteorological firms, stated Friday there have been stories of serious icing in Sao Paulo state across the time of the crash. Native media cited professionals pointing to icing as a possible motive for the coincidence.A video shared on social media channels Saturday presentations a Voepass pilot telling passengers of a flight from Guarulhos to town of Cascavel, the similar starting place of the crashed aircraft, that the ATR 72 has flown safely around the globe for many years. He additionally requested passengers to be respectful to the reminiscence of his colleagues and the corporate and requested for prayers.
“It was once a fatality. The pilot was once my non-public pal. I’ve recognized the entire staff from way back,” the unidentified pilot stated. “We’re pros, we’ve our households. This tragedy doesn’t hit simplest those that perished on this coincidence. It hits all folks. We’re giving all our hearts, all our absolute best to be right here and satisfy our venture to take you safely and conveniently on your vacation spot.”Native police limited get right of entry to to the primary front of certainly one of Sao Paulo’s morgues, the place our bodies from the crash have been being known. Some members of the family of the sufferers arrived on foot, others got here in minivans. They didn’t talk to newshounds, and native government asked they no longer be filmed as they got here.A flight bringing extra members of the family from Paraná state landed within the afternoon at Guarulhos global airport São Paulo, and so they additionally selected to not talk to newshounds. A minivan backed by way of the airline was once set to move them to the morgue.Many members of the family have been collecting at a lodge in downtown Sao Paulo, thus far refusing to talk to media there too.
An American Eagle ATR 72-200 crashed on Oct. 31, 1994, and america Nationwide Transportation Protection Board decided that the possible motive was once ice buildup whilst the aircraft was once circling in a conserving trend. The aircraft rolled at about 8,000 toes and dove into the bottom, killing all 68 folks on board. The U.S. Federal Aviation Management issued working procedures for ATRs and an identical planes, telling pilots to not use the autopilot in icing stipulations.However Brazilian aviation knowledgeable Lito Sousa cautioned that meteorological stipulations by myself is probably not sufficient to provide an explanation for why the aircraft fell within the means that it did on Friday.“Examining an air crash simply with pictures can result in fallacious conclusions concerning the reasons,” Sousa advised the AP by way of telephone. “However we will see a aircraft with lack of toughen, no horizontal pace. On this flat spin situation, there’s no solution to reclaim keep an eye on of the aircraft.”
Brazil’s air power stated Saturday each black containers of the aircraft have been despatched to its research laboratory within the capital Brasilia. The result of its investigations are anticipated to be printed inside of 30 days, it stated.Marcelo Moura, director of operations for Voepass, advised newshounds Friday night time that, whilst there have been forecasts for ice, they have been inside of applicable ranges for the airplane.Likewise, Lt. Col. Carlos Henrique Baldi of the Brazilian air power’s middle for the investigation and prevention of air injuries, advised newshounds in a past due afternoon press convention that it was once nonetheless too early to verify whether or not ice led to the crash.The aircraft is “qualified in numerous international locations to fly in serious icing stipulations, together with in international locations in contrast to ours, the place the affect of ice is extra important,” stated Baldi, who heads the middle’s investigation department.In an previous commentary, the middle stated the aircraft’s pilots didn’t name for lend a hand or say they have been working beneath hostile climate stipulations. There was no proof that the pilots attempted to touch controllers of regional airports, both, Ports and Airports Minister Silvio Costa Filho advised newshounds Friday night time in Vinhedo.Brazil’s Federal Police stated it all started its personal investigation, and dispatched experts in aircraft crashes and the identity of crisis sufferers.French-Italian aircraft producer ATR stated in a commentary that it have been knowledgeable that the coincidence concerned its ATR 72-500 style, and that corporate experts are “absolutely engaged to toughen each the investigation and the client.”The ATR 72 is usually used on shorter flights. The planes are constructed by way of a three way partnership of Airbus in France and Italy’s Leonardo S.p.A. Crashes involving quite a lot of fashions of the ATR 72 have ended in 470 deaths going again to the Nineties, consistent with a database of the Aviation Protection Community.Costa Filho, the airports minister, stated the air power’s middle may also habits a legal probe of the coincidence. “We can examine so this example is absolutely defined to the Brazilian folks,” he stated.___Sá Pessoa reported from Sao Paulo and Koenig from Dallas. AP videojournalist Tatiana Pollastri contributed to this document.
