The tragedy occurred in the city of Vinhedo, state of Sao Paulo.
Photo: REUTERS.
A twin-engine turboprop ATR-72 passenger plane crashed in Brazil, killing all on board: 57 passengers and 4 crew members. There is no information about the presence of Russian citizens among the passengers.
The tragedy occurred in the city of Vinhedo, in the state of Sao Paulo. The city authorities reported that there were no casualties at the scene of the plane crash and that no residential buildings were damaged. Brazilian President Lula Da Silva learned of the disaster before giving a speech in the state of Santa Catarina. He interrupted the event and declared a minute of silence in memory of the victims. Three days of mourning have been declared in the country. Russian President Vladimir Putin sent his condolences to the President of Brazil in connection with the tragic consequences of the passenger plane crash, the corresponding telegram was published on the Kremlin website.
According to flight tracking, the plane was at an altitude of about 5.2 thousand meters a minute before the crash. The crew did not report adverse weather conditions or issue any distress signals. Video footage that appeared on social media shows the plane spiraling out of the sky. A huge column of black smoke rose from where it fell.
City authorities reported that there were no casualties at the scene of the plane crash and that no residential buildings were damaged.
Photo: EAST NEWS.
According to the FlightRadar24 service, there was a warning of severe icing in the area where the plane was flying. The ice crust that forms on the surface of the plane weighs it down and reduces lift. To prevent this, most planes are equipped with special anti-icing systems. It is not known whether such a system was installed on the crashed plane. According to Brazilian authorities, the black box has already been found at the crash site, which gives hope of discovering the causes of the tragedy.
A twin-engine turboprop ATR-72 passenger plane crashed in Brazil
Photo: EAST NEWS.
Experts do not rule out that something may have happened to the pilots, which is why there was no distress signal. Moreover, experienced pilots should be able to recover the plane from a flat spin.
Miraculously, as local media, including G1, reported, about ten passengers of the ill-fated flight were saved: they were simply late for the flight, had confused the airlines, and when they found out where they were going, boarding had already ended and an airline employee did not allow them to board the flight.
The ATR 72 aircraft were built by a joint venture between France’s Airbus and Italy’s Leonardo SpA and are designed for short-haul flights. Crashes involving ATR 72s of various models since the 1990s have killed 470 people, not counting fatalities, according to the Aviation Safety Network database.
