A tragic plane crash in the Brazilian state of São Paulo has claimed the lives of all 62 people on board. The twin-engine turboprop aircraft, operated by Voepass airline, was en route from Cascavel in Paraná to Guarulhos Airport in São Paulo city when it crashed on Friday in the town of Vinhedo.
Footage shared on social media captured the horrifying moment the plane descended vertically, spiraling as it plummeted to the ground. After some initial confusion about the number of people on board, Voepass confirmed on Saturday that the ATR 72-500 was carrying 58 passengers and four crew members. Sadly, there were no survivors.
Brazil’s President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, expressed deep sympathy for the families and friends of the victims, while São Paulo’s state Governor, Tarcísio Gomes de Freitas, declared three days of mourning. The flight recorders have been recovered, and ATR, the French-Italian manufacturer of the aircraft, announced its full cooperation with the ongoing investigation.
The crash occurred in a residential area, yet miraculously, no one on the ground was injured. Only one home in a local condominium complex suffered damage. According to Flightradar24, the plane had departed from Cascavel at 11:56 AM local time (14:56 GMT), with the last signal from the aircraft received approximately an hour and a half later.
Brazil’s civil aviation agency confirmed that the plane, which was built in 2010, had been in good operating condition with valid registration and airworthiness certificates. The four crew members on board were all properly licensed and qualified.
Among the passengers were two trainee doctors from the Uopeccan Cancer Hospital in Cascavel, the hospital confirmed to BBC Brasil. Local residents who witnessed the crash described the terrifying moment. Felipe Magalhaes told Reuters that he had seen the plane fall from his window, leaving him “terrified.” Another resident, Nathalie Cicari, told CNN Brasil that she had been having lunch when she heard a “very loud noise very close by,” describing it as similar to a drone but much louder. She rushed to her balcony and saw the plane spinning, quickly realizing that something was horribly wrong.
This incident marks Brazil’s deadliest plane crash since 2007, when a TAM Express flight crashed and burst into flames at São Paulo’s Congonhas Airport, killing 199 people. At a public event, President Lula paid tribute to the victims of the Vinhedo crash, asking the audience to observe a minute of silence. He later expressed his sorrow on social media, describing the news as “very sad” and extending his solidarity to the victims’ families and friends.
In response to the crash, the nearby town of Valinhos dispatched 20 emergency personnel to the site as part of a joint operation. The Valinhos City Hall reported that “twenty men were mobilized, including three vehicles from the Valinhos Municipal Civil Guard and one vehicle from the Civil Defense.”
ATR also released a statement acknowledging the accident involving one of its ATR 72-500 aircraft, stating, “Our first thoughts are with all the individuals affected by this event,” and pledging support for the investigation.
