Tragedy strikes Vinhedo: Voepass crash claims 61 lives
Local authorities reported that in the plane crash that occurred on Friday near Vinhedo, none of the 61 people on board the Brazilian Voepass airline aircraft survived. The crash, which involved the aircraft falling onto buildings in the Capela neighbourhood, did not result in any ground casualties.
According to the AP agency, the aircraft departed from Cascavel in the state of Paraná. On board the twin-engine ATR-72 aircraft were 57 passengers and four crew members. Initially, it was reported that there were 62 people on board. The plane was scheduled to land at Guarulhos International Airport. Vinhedo—the site of the tragedy—is a city with over 70,000 inhabitants, located about 80 kilometres northwest of São Paulo.
Voepass Airline representatives initially did not disclose the possible cause of the incident. Videos of the final moments of the flight, showing the plane plummeting almost vertically and rotating around its own axis, appeared on social media and in the Brazilian press.
No injuries on the ground
Residents of the neighbourhood, which consists of single-family homes, shared videos online showing the wreckage of the burning plane, which came to a stop near one of the pools. Fortunately, according to local media, no one in the vicinity was hurt, although one property was damaged.
Immediately after the crash, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, speaking at a public meeting in the southern part of the country at 10:00 AM ET, called on attendees to observe a minute of silence for the victims. "I have to convey really bad news," he told those gathered, informing them of the tragic event.
ATR, the aircraft's manufacturer, expressed in a statement to the media its awareness of the situation and committed to cooperating with the Brazilian Center for Investigation and Prevention of Aviation Accidents and the police, who have already started investigations to determine the causes of the crash.
