A VoePass aircraft with 57 passengers and four crew members on board crashed in Brazil, killing everyone on board and leaving flaming wreckage in a residential neighborhood.
The airline, which operates a small fleet of planes made by ATR, said the flight was traveling from the state of Parana to Sao Paulo’s Guarulhos International Airport. It crashed in Vinhedo, a city in the interior of the state of Sao Paulo. Governor Tarcisio de Freitas confirmed in a news conference that no one had survived.
Videos posted on social media on Friday afternoon showed the plane suddenly dropping from the sky, spiraling as it fell. It remains unclear how the incident occurred, VoePass said in a statement. The last known tracking by FlightRadar24 of the plane was when it was at 1,250m and approaching Sao Paulo.
Photo: AFP / GLOBO TV
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva asked for a moment of silence for the passengers during an event on Friday, saying: “It seems that everyone has died.”
“I have to be the spokesperson for some very bad news,” he said. “My deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the victims.”
Sao Paulo state firefighters said seven teams were working at the crash site. Freitas said he and Parana Governor Carlos Roberto Massa Junior planned to fly to Vinhedo immediately.
The aircraft involved in the crash was an ATR-72 twin-engine turboprop model that typically seats about 70 people. ATR is a joint venture between Airbus and Italy’s Leonardo SpA.
ATR is working with investigators and the aircraft customer, the company said in an e-mail. “Our first thoughts are with all the individuals affected by this event,” ATR said.
ATR aircraft generally have a good safety record and are popular in countries with more rugged terrain and smaller airports.
Friday’s crash stands to be among the most deadly so far this year.
There were no hull losses or fatal incidents involving passenger jet aircraft in all of last year, the International Air Transport Association said.
The Sao Paulo-based VoePass is one of Brazil’s oldest operating airlines.
VoePass has a fleet of 16 ATR models, including two of the smaller ATR-42 variants. The planes have an average age of about 17 years, according to tracking Web site Planespotters.
The aircraft involved in the crash was 14 years old, FlightRadar24 said.
VoePass initially said that 62 passengers and crew had been on the aircraft, before updating the figure to 61.
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