All passengers onboard this flight to Guarulhos Airport in São Paulo were killed after the pilot lost control of the aircraft and his final words of terror were captured on the plane’s black box.
The aircraft was on a journey from Cascavel in Brazil to Guarulhos Airport in São Paulo city when it came crashing down in August last year. Voepass, the airline, shared the plane had com way down in the small town of Vinhedo.
At first the airline were unable to release the number of people on board but just a day later they were able to confirm the ATR 72-500 flight was carrying 58 passengers along with four additional crew members. Not a single person on board survived.
The black box, later found in the wreckage of the plane, revealed the pilot’s chilling last words. The transcript claims that his co-pilot turned to him and asked, ‘What is going on?’ as the plane began to descend, saying that the plane needed to be “stabilised”.
While assisting the pilot, he noticed a sudden and steep loss of altitude, just minutes before the aircraft hit the ground at full force. Social media footage circulated showing the exact moment the plane spiralled to its tragic crash, killing everyone on board.
It was reported by TV Globo’s news programme Jornal Nacional that mere seconds before the crash, screams were heard from the ground, which were also picked up in the audio from the black box. Although the analysis of the audio did not reveal anything which could have indicated any type of engine breakdown or unusual activity that led to the crash, these questions still remain.
There was a huge commotion in the small town as they heard the unusual sounds of the plane flying towards them, and soon enough people could see a large area on fire with the smoking wreckage at the centre of it. Police and fire services were quick to arrive at the scene and fortunately no one on the ground was injured while one home was damaged in the tragedy.
A local who witnessed the events, Felipe Magalhaes, said: “When I heard the sound of the plane falling, I looked out my window at home and saw the moment it crashed.” Another person living in the area, Nathalie Cicari, told CNN Brasil she was simply eating her lunch when she heard “a very loud noise”.
“I went out on the balcony and saw the plane spinning,” she shared. “Within seconds, I realised that it was not a normal movement for a plane.”
At the time, Brazil’s President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, expressed solidarity with the loved ones of those who lost their lives and held a minute of silence at an event in which he was talking.
Meanwhile, São Paulo’s state governor, Tarcísio Gomes de Freitas, declared three days of mourning.
ATR released a statement in August of 2024, in which they claim to have been informed of an accident involving an ATR 72-500. It read: “Our first thoughts are with all the individuals affected by this event. The ATR specialists are fully engaged to support both the investigation and the customer.”