An aeroplane carrying 57 passengers and four crew crashed Friday in Brazil’s Sao Paulo state, killing everyone on board, the airline said.
The aircraft, an ATR 72-500 operated by Voepass airline, was travelling from Cascavel in southern Parana state to Sao Paulo’s Guarulhos International Airport when it crashed in the city of Vinhedo.
Voepass initially said the plane was carrying 58 passengers, but a statement on the airline’s website later revised the figure to 57.declared three days of mourning.
Voepass said it was cooperating with authorities to “determine the causes of the accident,” while giving full assistance to families of the victims on flight 2283.
The plane, a twin-engine turboprop, took off “without any flight restrictions, with all its systems operational,” the company said.
Brazil’s CENIPA aviation accident agency has launched an investigation.
ATR, a Franco-Italian aircraft maker and Airbus subsidiary said its experts were working to help investigators.
– ‘Terrifying’ –
Truck driver Martins Barbosa, 49, was working when he learned of the plane crash, which occurred 150 meters (500 feet) from his home.
“I thought it might have fallen on my house, with my son inside,” he told AFP, adding he felt despondent before learning his family was okay.
Nathalie Cicari, who lives near the crash site, told CNN Brasil the impact was “terrifying.”
“I was having lunch, I heard a very loud noise very close by,” she said, describing the sound as drone-like but “much louder.”
“I went out on the balcony and saw the plane spinning. Within seconds, I realized that it was not a normal movement for a plane.”
Cicari was not hurt but had to evacuate her house, which was filled with black smoke from the crash.
“I arrived at the scene and saw many bodies on the ground — many of them,” another witness, Ricardo Rodrigues, told local Band News.
Firefighters, military police and state civil defence were deployed at the scene.
Military police told local media the accident had not caused any casualties on the ground, and that the fire sparked by the crash had been brought under control.
