62 killed in plane crash near Sao Paulo
The plane crashed in Vinhedo. According to President Lula, all passengers died.
No survivors: The plane crashed in a residential area.
Photo: Keystone
The plane with 62 people on board crashed in a residential area of Vinhedo in Sao Paulo, Brazil. No one survived the crash on Friday afternoon (local time), as the city administration told the German Press Agency. According to airline VoePass, there were 58 passengers and four crew members on board.
The flight was en route from the city of Cascaval in the state of Paraná to Cuarulhos in Sao Paulo. São Paulo-Cuarulhos Airport is the largest airport in Brazil. About 19 months ago, a similar plane crashed in Nepal, killing dozens of people.
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President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva asked those attending an event in the south of the country to observe a minute of silence. “Very sad news. “All my sympathies go out to the families and friends of the victims,” Lula said on stage X.
The plane crashed into a residential complex
The “G1” news portal, citing officials in Vinhedo, reported that the plane crashed in a residential area near a house where the residents were. But no one was injured on the ground.
A local resident who videotaped the burning plane told UOL television: “I’ve never heard such a loud bang in my life.”
According to the fire department, rescue teams have rushed to the spot. Hospitals in Vinhedo were on special alert. In addition to the fire department, civil defense and police were also on duty, “G1” reported.
Pictures and videos on social networks showed how a plane spun and fell from the sky. Then there was thick smoke. According to data from the Flightradar 24 platform, the plane plummeted to a height of nearly 4,000 meters within a minute. Sao Paulo’s governor Darcio de Freitas said: “My solidarity goes out to all those affected by this tragedy.” He promised all necessary support.
The cause of the accident is still unknown
VoePass, the airline, said in its first Instagram post about the crash, that it is yet to say anything about the cause of the crash. The Central Police Department is investigating the accident. At the home of a resident at the entrance to the tragedy, the police set up a crisis team of sorts, reports “G1”.
According to the UOL news website, the crash was one of the worst in Brazilian aviation history.
Many remember that on November 28, 2016, a plane belonging to Brazilian soccer club Chapecoense crashed in Colombia on its way to Medellin for the first leg of the finals of the Copa Sudamericana, the South American Cup. At that time, 71 people died, including almost all the players and supervisors, coaches and accompanying journalists. Six passengers survived.
The plane that died on Friday was an ATR 72 turboprop passenger plane, the shoulder aircraft of the French-Italian consortium Avions de Transport Régional. In January 2023, an ATR 72-500 crashed on approach to Pakora International Airport in Nepal, killing 72 passengers, including four crew members.
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