Brazil probe shows severe icing contributed to 2024 plane crash that killed 62
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $205*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian air force investigators on Thursday published their findings about the 2024 Voepass airplane accident that killed 62 people after it spiraled into a crash outside metropolis Sao Paulo.
The probe confirmed that a combination of severe icing conditions, as well as mechanical system failures and pilot distractions, contributed to the country’s most deadly air crash since 2007.
The Voepass ATR 72-500 twin-turboprop crashed into a residential neighborhood in the city of Vinhedo on Aug. 9, 2024, killing all aboard.
The flight en route from the city of Cascavel to Sao Paulo’s international airport encountered severe atmospheric icing while cruising at 17,000 feet, the probe showed. That caused the aircraft to lose lift and enter an unrecoverable “flat spin.”
Flight recorders indicated that the crew recognized heavy ice accumulation on the airframe. But the plane’s de-icing system experienced recurring technical faults and was repeatedly switched back and forth during critical phases of the trip.
Investigators said during a press conference in capital Brasilia that a systemic “culture of normalizing deviations” took place within Voepass and noted there were preexisting mechanical issues, which included known de-icing faults, that were tolerated before takeoff.
The probe also showed the crew was distracted by routine radio communications and administrative tasks during severe icing warnings and did not make correction maneuvers in time.
The findings were presented to the victims’ families before public release.