A VoePass aircraft has crashed in Brazil, killing all 61 people on board and leaving flaming wreckage in a residential neighborhood.
The airline, which operates a small fleet of planes made by ATR, said the flight was traveling from the state of Parana to São Paulo’s Guarulhos International Airport. It crashed in Vinhedo, a city in the interior of the state of São Paulo. Governor Tarcisio de Freitas confirmed in a news conference that no one had survived.
Videos posted to social media on Friday afternoon showed the plane suddenly dropping from the sky, spiraling as it fell. It was unclear how the accident occurred, VoePass said in a statement. The last known tracking by FlightRadar24 of the plane was when it was at 4,100 feet (1,250m) and was approaching São Paulo.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva asked for a moment of silence for the passengers during an event on Friday, saying that “it seems that everyone has died.”
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“I have to be the spokesperson for some very bad news,” he said. “My deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the victims.”
São Paulo state firefighters said seven teams were working at the crash site. Mr Freitas said he and Carlos Roberto Massa Junior, the governor of Parana state, planned to fly to Vinhedo immediately.
The aircraft involved in the crash was an ATR 72 model, a twin-engine turboprop model that typically seats about 70 people. ATR is a joint venture between Airbus SE and Italy’s Leonardo SpA.
A representative for ATR didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment outside of European office hours.
VoePass, based in São Paulo state, is one of Brazil’s oldest operating airlines. It has a fleet of 16 ATR models, including two of the smaller -42 variant. The planes have an average age of about 17 years, according to tracking website Planespotters. The aircraft involved in the crash was 14 years old, according to FlightRadar24.
The airline, formerly known as Passaredo, announced an expansion of its codeshare agreement with Latam Airlines Group SA in 2023. Latam and VoePass didn’t reply to requests for comment. – Bloomberg