The ATR 72-500 flight was carrying 58 passengers along with four additional crew members. Not a single person on board survived the crash in August last year
A flight to Guarulhos Airport in São Paulo ended in tragedy when the pilot lost control of the aircraft, with his final words of terror captured on the plane’s black box.
The aircraft was en route from Cascavel in Brazil to Guarulhos Airport in São Paulo city when it tragically crashed in August last year. The airline, Voepass, revealed that the plane had come down in the small town of Vinhedo.
Initially, the airline could not disclose the number of people on board, but a day later they confirmed that the ATR 72-500 flight was carrying 58 passengers and an additional four crew members. Tragically, there were no survivors.
The black box, later recovered from the wreckage, revealed the pilot’s chilling last words. The transcript reveals his co-pilot asked him, ‘What is going on?’ as the plane began to descend, stating that the plane needed to be “stabilised”, reports the Express.
While assisting the pilot, he noticed a sudden and steep loss of altitude, just minutes before the aircraft hit the ground at full force. Footage circulated on social media showing the exact moment the plane spiralled into its fatal crash, killing everyone on board.
TV Globo’s news programme Jornal Nacional reported that just seconds before the fatal crash, screams were heard from the ground, which were also captured in the black box audio. Despite this, the analysis of the audio did not reveal any signs of engine failure or unusual activity leading to the crash, leaving many questions unanswered.
The small town was thrown into chaos as residents heard the abnormal sounds of the plane approaching, and soon a large area was ablaze with the smoking wreckage at its heart. Police and fire services swiftly arrived on the scene, and thankfully no one on the ground was injured, although one home was damaged in the disaster.
Local resident Felipe Magalhaes, who witnessed the horrifying event, said: “When I heard the sound of the plane falling, I looked out my window at home and saw the moment it crashed.”
Another local, 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 said. “Within seconds, I realised that it was not a normal movement for a plane.”
Brazil’s President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, expressed his solidarity with the families of those who lost their lives and held a minute of silence at an event he was attending.
Meanwhile, São Paulo’s state governor, Tarcísio Gomes de Freitas, declared three days of mourning.
In a statement released in August 2024, ATR revealed they were notified about an accident involving an ATR 72-500. The statement 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.”