An ATR 72-500 aircraft operating a regular passenger flight just crashed this Friday afternoon (9th) in Vinhedo, in the interior of São Paulo, impacting residential homes.
The involved aircraft, registered as PS-VPB of Voepass, formerly Passaredo, was operating flight 2Z-2283 from Cascavel, Paraná, to Guarulhos International Airport, São Paulo, according to our associated media outlet in Brazil, Aeroin.
Videos circulating on the internet show the aircraft spiraling downward before crashing into the ground and causing a fire. The turboprop crashed in the Capela neighborhood in the city of Vinhedo while descending to land at Guarulhos.
Preliminary radar data indicates that the aircraft reached a descent rate of 13,000 feet per minute.
In this internal statement, Voepass confirms the accident. In another press release, they report that 58 passengers and 4 crew members were on board the ATR, none of whom survived The Brazilian Air Force, through the Center for Investigation and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents (CENIPA), has already sent investigators to the crash site.
Voepass is a Brazilian airline headquartered in Ribeirão Preto, in the state of São Paulo, with operations spread across southern and northeastern Brazil, averaging about 400 flights per week. Its fleet consists of 8 ATR 72-500s (including the one involved in the accident) and 3 ATR 72-600s. The aircraft registered as PS-VPB, involved in this Friday’s tragedy, was delivered in June 2010.
