Experts Say ATR 72-500 Plane That Crashed in Brazil Had Bad History

BRAZIL – A passenger plane carrying 61 people crashed outside São Paulo on Friday (8/9/2024) afternoon, killing everyone on board, the airline Voepass said in a statement.

Dramatic footage circulating on social media showed the plane crashing and the mangled fuselage burning on the ground.
“There are no survivors,” said Ana Cândida Briski, communications director of the nearby town of Valinhos.

Voepass confirmed that all 61 people on board Flight 2283 died at the scene, revising the death toll from an initial assessment of 62. There were 57 passengers and four crew members on board, Voepass said.

Cause of Accident Still a Mystery

Flight tracking data shows the ATR 72-500, a twin-engine turboprop, descended 17,000 feet in just over a minute, but it is not clear why that happened.

“There is still no confirmation on how the accident occurred or the current situation of the people on board.”

Black Box Discovery and Victim Identification

Authorities have recovered the black box at the crash site, Sao Paulo Security Secretary Guilherme Derrite told a news conference. Medical teams were at the scene and working to identify the victims, many of whom had severe burns that made them difficult to identify visually.

“The bodies of the victims were taken to the IML (Legal Medical Institute) in Campinas for legal processing,” said Guilherme.

Citizen Testimony

A resident who recorded video after the plane crashed into his neighbor’s house outside São Paulo told CNN’s Julia Vargas Jones that he was eating lunch in his kitchen when he saw the plane crash. He ducked in fear and began praying, he said, calling it a “moment of panic” for the entire city.

Investigation In Progress

Vinhedo City Hall said in a statement Friday that it was waiting for a Brazilian Air Force team to begin investigating the cause of the crash.

Brigadier Marcelo Moreno, who heads Brazil’s aviation accident agency CENIPA, told a news conference that the flight crew did not communicate an emergency before the crash.

“There was no information about the aircraft, such as that it was in any kind of emergency.”

Aircraft Information

According to registration data from the Brazilian Aeronautical Registry, the Voepass Linhas Aéreas flight was manufactured in 2010 and purchased by the airline in September 2022.

The aircraft was “rejected from operating as an air taxi,” according to its registration. However, it is unclear why or when that decision was made at this time.

ATR, the aircraft manufacturer, said it was aware of the accident and was working to support investigators.
“What we can say at this time is that ATR has been informed that there has been an accident in Vinhedo, Brazil involving an ATR 72-500. ATR is fully engaged to support the investigation and the customer.”

History of the ATR 72

Aviation experts told CNN that the ATR 72, built by a European consortium, has a spotty history.
The ATR 72, as well as the company’s similar but smaller ATR 42, have previously been involved in a number of accidents: there have been at least 15 incidents resulting in passenger fatalities involving ATR turboprops recorded worldwide.

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