- Rescue efforts after plane crash in Brazil
A day after the crash of a passenger plane in a residential area near Brazil's metropolis of São Paulo, bodies are being recovered and identified. "We expect all bodies to be removed by the end of the day," said Carlos Palhares, director of the National Institute of Forensic Science, to reporters. So far, 31 bodies have been recovered, reported news portal "G1" citing the Civil Defense. The crash resulted in 62 fatalities.
The airline VoePass initially reported this number, later corrected it to 61, and raised it again to 62 on Saturday morning (local time). One passenger's name was initially not found on the list due to a technical problem, according to "G1".
Among the victims were a father and his three-year-old daughter who were spending Father's Day - celebrated in Brazil on Sunday - together, medical assistants, businesspeople, and professors.
Both the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder - the so-called black box - have been found by the Brazilian Air Force (FAB), said Marcelo Moreno, head of the Center for Investigation and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents (Cenipa). Whether the devices can provide insight into the cause of the crash depends on their condition, he said.
The turboprop passenger plane, an ATR 72, crashed into a residential area of the town of Vinhedo while approaching São Paulo from Cascavel in the state of Paraná on Friday. Data from the Flightradar 24 platform suggests the plane dropped nearly 4,000 meters in less than a minute. There was no emergency declaration before the crash, said Moreno.
Investigations are ongoing. Experts are considering ice formation on the wings - turning a plane into "a stone without lift," as reported by the Brazilian news portal UOL. There was a warning of ice formation for the crash site. Other experts do not rule out that multiple factors caused the crash.
The Commission has started an investigation into the cause of the crash, aiming to provide answers and prevent similar incidents in the future. The Commission has requested data from the airline, VoePass, and other relevant sources to help in their analysis.
