Plane Crash in Brazil Kills All 61 on Board

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Facts

  • According to officials, a plane carrying 61 people crashed outside of São Paulo Friday afternoon, leaving no survivors. It reportedly fell 17k feet within a minute's time. Initially it was feared 62 had perished, but one ticketed passenger wasn't onboard.[1][2]
  • According to the airline Voepass, the plane took off from the city of Cascavel in southern Paraná — roughly 450 miles from São Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport — and later crashed in the city of Vinhedo.[3]
  • Officials said the plane crashed in someone's yard, but no one on the ground was hurt. The vehicle was an ATR 72 made by European manufacturers Airbus and Leonardo. It was manufactured in 2010 and approved to carry up to 68 passengers.[4]
  • Voepass is a small airline that operates 15 ATR planes across medium-sized cities. It carried around 500k passengers last year — less than 0.5% of the country's entire airline market.[4]
  • Upon hearing of the crash, Pres. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva asked a crowd he was addressing at the time to 'observe a minute of silence' for those who had perished.[5]
  • While the airline stated that the region through which the plane was flying had endured heavy rain, it did not confirm any cause behind the crash. The national aviation authority said it would ensure Voepass followed investigation protocols.[3]

Sources: [1]CNN, [2]Associated Press, [3]Wsj, [4]New York Times and [5]New York Post.

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by Oneindia. This tragedy has struck the hearts and minds of government officials and citizens alike. In reponse, emergency workers have been deployed to the scene, including firefighters and police as well as disaster victim identification personnel. Alongside the initial rapid response, an investigation has been launched to find out what was behind this disaster.
  • Narrative B, as provided by CNN. While no one knows exactly what happened here and an investigation is needed, footage of the crash appears to show what's called an aerodynamic stall, in which there's not enough air speed over the wings to keep the plane flying. Audio also shows that the engines were still running, meaning the air didn't stall due to a loss of engine power.