Brazilian airliner crashes, all 62 on board killed

By Reuters

SAO PAULO: A regional turboprop plane crashed near Sao Paulo in Brazil on Friday, killing all 62 people on board, local officials near the crash site said.

Airline Voepass said the plane, bound for Sao Paulo’s main international airport, took off from Cascavel, in the state of Parana, at around 3 p.m. (1800 GMT) and crashed in the town of Vinhedo, about 80 km (50 miles) northwest of Sao Paulo.

Video shared on social media showed what appeared to be the ATR-made plane spinning out of control as it plunged down behind a cluster of trees near houses, followed by a large plume of black smoke.

The video of the mid-afternoon crash also appeared to show clear weather, though the forecast for the area called for light rainfall and winds of just 10 km per hour (6 mph).

City officials at Valinhos, near Vinhedo, said there were no survivors and only one home in the local condominium complex had been damaged while none of the residents were hurt.

“I have to be the bearer of really bad news,” said President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaking at an event shortly after the crash. He asked for a minute of silence for the victims of the crash.

The unlisted airline said it could not provide further information on what caused the plane to crash.

Franco-Italian ATR, jointly owned by Airbus , is the dominant producer of regional turborprop planes seating 40-70 people.

In a statement emailed to Reuters, ATR said it had been informed of an accident in Vinhedo involving one of its aircraft.

“Our first thoughts are with all the individuals affected by this event,” it said, adding that company specialists were “fully engaged” with the investigation into the crash and its customers.

Just minutes after the apparent accident, Sao Paulo’s state fire brigade said it was rushing seven crews to the scene.

The aircraft was listed by flight tracker website FlightRadar24 as a 14-year-old ATR 72-500 turboprop.

The website noted that the last signal received from the aircraft was at 4:22 p.m., and that in its final minute, the plane’s transponder recorded a vertical speed of between 8,000 and 24,000 feet per minute.

The upper end of that range would translate to a speed of 273 miles per hour (391 kph).

FlightRadar24 also cited what it described as an active warning for “severe icing” at an altitude of between 12,000 feet and 21,000 feet, and that the aircraft had been flying at 17,000 feet immediately prior to the crash.

Regional carrier VoePass is Brazil’s fourth-largest airline by market share.

The company, previously known as Passaredo, currently has a codeshare deal with LATAM Airlines after a similar agreement with Gol expired last year.

Based in Ribeirao Preto, Sao Paulo state, VoePass serves nearly 50 destinations and has a fleet made up entirely of ATR-72 and ATR-42 aircraft seating up to 70 passengers.