Brazilian authorities are investigating the reason for the fiery aircraft crash that killed 62

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VINHEDO, Brazil (AP) — Brazilian authorities labored Saturday to piece collectively what precisely brought about the aircraft crash in Sao Paulo state the day gone by that killed all 62 individuals on board.

Native airline Voepass’ aircraft, an ATR 72 twin-engine turboprop, was headed for Sao Paulo’s worldwide airport in Guarulhos with 58 passengers and 4 crew members, when it went down within the metropolis of Vinhedo.

Initially, the corporate mentioned its aircraft had 62 passengers, then it revised the quantity to 61 and early on Saturday it raised the determine as soon as once more after it discovered a passenger named Constantino The Maia was not on its unique checklist.

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Photographs recorded by witnesses confirmed the plane in a flat spin and plunging vertically earlier than smashing to the bottom inside a gated group, and leaving an obliterated fuselage consumed by fireplace. Residents mentioned there have been no accidents on the bottom.

Rain drizzled down on rescue staff as they recovered the primary our bodies from the scene within the chill of the Southern Hemisphere’s winter. Some residents of the condominium silently left to spend the night time elsewhere.

It was the world’s deadliest airline crash since January 2023, when 72 individuals died on board a Yeti Airways aircraft in Nepal that stalled and crashed whereas making its touchdown method. That aircraft additionally was an ATR 72, and the ultimate report blamed pilot error.

A report Friday from Brazilian tv community Globo’s meteorological middle mentioned it “confirmed the opportunity of the formation of ice within the area of Vinhedo,” and native media cited specialists pointing to icing as a possible trigger for the crash.

An American Eagle ATR 72-200 crashed on Oct. 31, 1994, and the US Nationwide Transportation Security Board decided that the possible trigger was ice buildup whereas the aircraft was circling in a holding sample. The aircraft rolled at about 8,000 toes and dove into the bottom, killing all 68 individuals on board. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration issued working procedures for ATRs and related planes, telling pilots to not use the autopilot in icing circumstances.

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However Brazilian aviation skilled Lito Sousa cautioned that meteorological circumstances alone won’t be sufficient to elucidate why the aircraft fell within the method that it did on Friday.

“Analyzing an air crash simply with photographs can result in improper conclusions in regards to the causes,” Sousa advised the AP by telephone. “However we are able to see a aircraft with lack of assist, no horizontal pace. On this flat spin situation, there’s no solution to reclaim management of the aircraft.”

Talking to reporters Friday in Vinhedo, Sao Paulo Public Safety Secretary Guilherme Derrite mentioned the aircraft’s black field had been recovered, apparently in a preserved state.

Marcelo Moura, director of operations for Voepass, advised reporters Friday night time that, whereas there have been forecasts for ice, they have been inside acceptable ranges for the plane.

Likewise, Lt. Col. Carlos Henrique Baldi of the Brazilian air pressure’s middle for the investigation and prevention of air accidents, advised reporters in a late afternoon press convention that it was nonetheless too early to verify whether or not ice brought about the crash.

The aircraft is “licensed in a number of nations to fly in extreme icing circumstances, together with in nations in contrast to ours, the place the influence of ice is extra vital,” mentioned Baldi, who heads the middle’s investigation division.

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In an earlier assertion, the middle mentioned that the aircraft’s pilots didn’t name for assist nor say they have been working beneath hostile climate circumstances. There was no proof that the pilots tried to contact controllers of regional airports, both, Ports and Airports Minister Silvio Costa Filho advised reporters Friday night time in Vinhedo.

Brazil’s Federal Police started its personal investigation, and dispatched specialists in aircraft crashes and the identification of catastrophe victims, it mentioned in an announcement.

Sao Paulo state authorities mentioned Saturday morning that 21 our bodies had been retrieved from the scene, and two have been already recognized. Maycon Cristo, a spokesman for the native fireplace division, advised journalists {that a} winch is getting used to take away components of the aircraft carcass from the bottom.

“As we see a attainable physique in the course of the destruction of the aircraft, rescue groups are available in. Then they take footage, collect as a lot proof from the sufferer as they will so the identification will be essentially the most correct,” Cristo mentioned.

French-Italian aircraft producer ATR mentioned in an announcement that it had been knowledgeable that the accident concerned its ATR 72-500 mannequin, and that firm specialists are “absolutely engaged to assist each the investigation and the client.”

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The ATR 72 is mostly used on shorter flights. The planes are constructed by a three way partnership of Airbus in France and Italy’s Leonardo S.p.A.

Crashes involving numerous fashions of the ATR 72 have resulted in 470 deaths going again to the Nineteen Nineties, in response to a database of the Aviation Security Community.

Brazilian authorities started transferring the corpses to the morgue Friday, and referred to as on victims’ relations to convey any medical, X-ray and dental exams to assist determine the our bodies. Blood exams have been additionally performed to assist identification efforts.

Costa Filho, the airports minister, mentioned the air pressure’s middle may also conduct a felony probe of the accident.

“We are going to examine so this case is absolutely defined to the Brazilian individuals,” he mentioned.

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Sa Pessoa reported from Sao Paulo and Koenig from Dallas.

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