A regional turboprop Plane Crash near São Paulo, Brazil, involved a flat spin before it hit a residential area on Friday, killing all 61 people aboard.
Regional airline Voepass reported that the plane, en route to São Paulo’s international airport, departed from Cascavel in Paraná state and crashed around 1:30 p.m. (1630 GMT) in Vinhedo, a town located about 80 km (50 miles) northwest of São Paulo.
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Footage shared on social media captured the ATR-72 aircraft spiraling out of control as it descended behind a cluster of trees near homes, followed by a massive plume of black smoke.
Nearby resident Daniel de Lima recounted hearing a loud noise before noticing the plane spiraling horizontally outside his condominium in Vinhedo.
“It was rotating but not moving forward,” he told Reuters. “Soon after, it plummeted from the sky and exploded.”
City officials in Valinhos, close to Vinhedo, reported that a house in a local condominium complex was damaged when the plane crashed into its backyard. Fortunately, no residents were injured.
“I almost believe the pilot tried to avoid a nearby densely populated neighborhood,” de Lima speculated.
The plane’s unusual circling motion before impact piqued the curiosity of aviation experts, leading to speculation about possible ice buildup or engine failure, though investigators stated it was too early to determine the cause.
“Today, ice was forecasted at the plane’s altitude but within acceptable limits,” said Voepass Chief Operations Officer Marcel Moura at a press conference.
“However, the plane is sensitive to ice, which could be a starting point,” Moura added, noting that the de-icing system and all other systems were operational before takeoff.
Brazilian aviation engineer and crash investigator Celso Faria de Souza suggested that ice accumulation might have caused the plane to stall and spiral as it did.
An ATR-72 experienced a fatal crash in Indiana in 1994, killing 68, after ice buildup prevented the plane from banking. In 2016, another ATR-72 stalled due to ice in Norway, though the pilot managed to regain control. An ATR-72 also crashed in Nepal in 2023, with the final report citing pilot error.
Cenipa, Brazil’s aviation accident investigation center, confirmed that the plane’s “black box,” containing voice recordings and flight data, had been recovered.
U.S. aviation safety expert Anthony Brickhouse mentioned that investigators would consider factors such as weather and the condition of the engines and controls before the crash.
“From what I’ve observed, it was definitely a case of loss of control,” Brickhouse said.
Flightradar data showed significant fluctuations in speed before the crash, according to U.S. aviation safety consultant and former commercial pilot John Cox. He cautioned that the data needed verification but indicated that something “really significant” occurred to cause the plane to spin.
“It seems there may have been a catastrophic event before the loss of control,” Cox noted.
Cenipa head Marcelo Moreno informed the press that initial reports indicated the aircraft had not contacted traffic control to report an emergency.
Voepass, Brazil’s fourth-largest airline by market share, initially reported 62 people aboard the aircraft. Local media outlet Globo News interviewed two men who stated they missed the flight. The final count was 57 passengers and four crew members, all carrying Brazilian-issued documents, according to Voepass.
Some of the passengers were doctors from Paraná heading to a seminar, according to Governor Ratinho Junior.
“These were people dedicated to saving lives, and now they’ve lost theirs in such tragic circumstances,” he said.
Franco-Italian company ATR, jointly owned by Airbus and Leonardo, is the leading producer of regional turboprop planes seating 40 to 70 passengers. ATR told that its specialists were “fully engaged” in the investigation and supporting its customers.
The plane’s engine, a PW 127, was produced by Pratt & Whitney Canada, and its parent company RTX Corp confirmed it was assisting in the investigation.
Moreno stated that both French and Canadian investigators would participate, and Europe’s safety regulator also offered technical assistance.
The crash is Brazil’s deadliest since 2007, when 199 people died in a TAM-operated flight, which later merged with LAN to form LATAM Airlines.
