Search for cause of plane crash in Brazil, 61 dead
The Brazilian investigation agency for plane crashes, Cenipa, is looking into the cause of the accident. The aircraft of French-Italian aircraft manufacturer ATR was traveling from Cascavel in southern Paraná state to Guarulhos International Airport near São Paulo.
According to airline Voepass, there were 57 passengers and four crew members on board the ill-fated aircraft. The crash occurred at around 13:25 local time (18:25 CEST) in Vinhedo, a town of 76,000 people about 80 kilometers northwest of São Paulo.
Residents of Vinhedo were shocked. Truck driver Martins Barbosa was working when the accident happened about 150 meters from his home: "I thought it might have fallen on my house with my son inside," said the 49-year-old. He later found out that his family was okay. Luckily, there were no other casualties in the residential area.
"It was terrible, we saw the plane spinning around and crashing. God saved us, it was just a little bit from falling on my house. I can't stop shaking," Edna Barbosa told TV station SBT.
Neighbor Nathalie Cicari told CNN Brasil: "I was eating when I heard a loud noise very close, like a drone but much louder." She ran to the balcony and saw the spinning plane. "I just had time to duck and pray like they do in the movies, then I heard the huge crash of the crash." Local media showed videos of black smoke rising from the crash site in the residential area. Cicari was not injured but had to evacuate her smoke-filled house.
Guilherme Derrite from São Paulo's state security agency told journalists at the crash site that the plane's black box had been found and appeared to be intact.
The twin-engine turboprop aircraft took off "without any flight restrictions, fully operational with all equipment," the airline assured. The air force said contact with the aircraft was suddenly lost, with no distress call.
Firefighters, police officers, and military police were at the crash site. The identification of bodies has begun and will continue throughout the night, said São Paulo Governor Tarcisio de Freitas.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called it a "tragic accident" and declared three days of national mourning. Cascavel Mayor Leonardo Paranhos also called it a "tragedy for all of us" and offered the support of the authorities to the families of the victims.
The airline said it is working with authorities to determine the cause of the accident and will provide full support to the families of the victims.
The ill-fated aircraft had been in service since April 2010, according to the website planespotters.net. Before Friday's crash, Cenipa had recorded 108 plane accidents in Brazil this year, with 49 fatalities.
In January 2023, another ATR-72 aircraft operated by Yeti Airlines in Nepal crashed, killing all 72 on board. Authorities blamed pilot error for that crash.
The investigation by Cenipa into the accident involves determining the cause of the flight's unfortunate incident. Following the crash, the search and rescue operations at the site revealed that the aircraft's black box had been found intact.
