Voepass grounded after fatal Brazil crash raises safety concerns
On Friday in Brazil, a horrific plane crash occurred, killing 62 people. A Voepass Airlines employee revealed recent incidents involving the airline's planes to Brazilian media. The company cancelled flights until August, citing "unforeseen operational circumstances."
Over the weekend, Voepass Airlines cancelled all flights on the Fortaleza-Fernando de Noronha-Natal route until August 31. This decision was made in connection with the "operational necessity" following the accident on Friday, August 9.
As a result of the tragedy, 62 people were killed. The ATR-72 aircraft flew from Cascavel in Paraná to São Paulo Airport in Brazil. Suddenly, for unexplained reasons, it began to fall and crashed in the town of Vinhedo. There were 58 passengers and four crew members on board.
New and disturbing information has now come to light concerning another Voepass aircraft. The turboprop ATR-42 serving the route where the accident occurred was found to have several technical issues that had already raised concerns among the crew.
Plane crash in Brazil. Incidents with Voepass aircraft
As it turned out, in February, a crew member filed a complaint with his supervisor, reporting several malfunctions in the aircraft. One of them was a tear in the wing anti-icing system, which he believed could have been one of the causes of the loss of lift by the ATR-72, which crashed — reports the Brazilian portal "O Globo."
Additionally, the complaint noted that the aircraft performed alarming manoeuvres, such as detours and turns during flight. Photos attached to the complaint showed two tears in the wing deicing system.
It is noteworthy that flights are suspended if this system does not function properly. However, this was not the only problem. A crew member noticed that the aircraft had one of the four brakes damaged, and there was a gap in the door through which a hand could be inserted.
Defects in Voepass aircraft
According to reports from crew members and former Voepass employees, the Brazilian National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) prohibited flights of the ATR-42 in May.
ANAC confirmed that the Voepass aircraft was taken out of service for safety component inspections. So far, Voepass Airlines has not addressed the issues related to this aircraft, limiting themselves to a brief statement regarding the flight cancellations.
