The particles on the web site the place an aircraft crashed with 62 folks on board, in Vinhedo, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, early on Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024.
Andre Penner/AP
conceal caption
toggle caption
Andre Penner/AP
SAO PAULO (AP) — The pilots of a Brazilian passenger airplane that crashed final month, killing all 62 folks aboard, reported failure within the device to take away ice from the airplane, in line with a initial record made public Friday. Investigators in Brazil have been cautious to steer clear of pronouncing this used to be the reason for the twist of fate, and stressed out there used to be extra paintings to be executed. Nonetheless, their record lent additional credence to aviation mavens’ primary speculation: that the carry loss have been brought about through ice formation at the airplane’s wings and failure of its de-icing device. Climate studies from the day of the twist of fate predicted ice formation within the area the place the airplane went down.
Audio from the cockpit’s voice recorder incorporated feedback from pilots indicating ice used to be amassing and there used to be a failure within the de-icing device, Paulo Fróes, an investigator within the the air pressure’s heart for the investigation and prevention of air injuries, instructed newshounds in Brasilia. Simply two mins earlier than the crash, the copilot mentioned, “Numerous ice.” The airplane’s knowledge recorder additionally indicated that its de-icing device, liable for combating ice build-up on wings, grew to become off and on a number of occasions, in line with their record. “There are nonetheless many doubts. This twist of fate do not need took place, no longer within the prerequisites by which the airplane used to be flying and used to be being operated. It had coverage apparatus,” mentioned Carlos Henrique Baldin, head of the middle’s investigation department. Operated through the airline Voepass, the flight departed Aug. 9 from the town of Cascavel, in Parana state, certain for Sao Paulo’s Guarulhos world airport. It crashed into the yard of a house in a gated neighborhood within the town of Vinhedo, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of the city of Sao Paulo. Pictures of the ATR 72 twin-engine turboprop plunging whilst in a flat spin horrified folks throughout Brazil. “According to the initial record, it’s not imaginable to conclusively verify that ice at the wings brought about the twist of fate, however there are indications ice formation used to be an important contributing issue,” Henrique Hacklaender, the president of the nationwide aviators’ union, instructed The Related Press after the click convention.
Hacklaender mentioned the ATR 72’s de-icing device is manually managed through pilots, and the initial record unearths that it used to be activated throughout the flight, indicating an try to use it. On the other hand, the record does not explain if the device used to be in reality hired, he added. The air pressure’s heart, referred to as Cenipa, is continuous its investigation into the reason for the twist of fate without a set cut-off date for conclusions. They are additionally participating with an ongoing Federal Police inquiry to resolve if any person is chargeable for the crash. ATR is a French-Italian corporate. Its fashion 72 is normally used on shorter flights. The planes are constructed through a three way partnership of Airbus in France and Italy’s Leonardo S.p.A. Crashes involving more than a few fashions of the ATR 72 have ended in 470 deaths going again to the Nineties, in line with a database of the Aviation Protection Community. It used to be the deadliest airline crash since January 2023, when 72 folks died on board a Yeti Airways airplane in Nepal that stalled and crashed whilst making its touchdown way. That airplane additionally used to be an ATR 72, and the overall record blamed pilot error. An American Eagle ATR 72-200 crashed on Oct. 31, 1994, and the U.S. Nationwide Transportation Protection Board decided the possible purpose used to be ice buildup whilst the airplane used to be circling in a maintaining development. The airplane rolled at about 8,000 ft (2,500 meters) and dove into the bottom, killing all 68 folks on board. The U.S. Federal Aviation Management issued running procedures for ATRs and equivalent planes telling pilots to not use the autopilot in icing prerequisites.
