New details have emerged after a Brazilian passenger plane ‘fell from the sky’ in São Paulo, Brazil.
On Friday 9 August, a Voe Pass airline flight from Cascavel in Parana was travelling with 62 people on board to Guarulhos.
Shocking footage was shared online of the plane, showing it plummeting to the ground.
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At the time of the crash, the Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva commented that all 58 passengers and 4 crew members had perished.
Thankfully, nobody on the ground was injured.
He said (as reported by CNN): “I would like everyone to stand up so that we can observe a minute of silence because a plane has just crashed in the city of Vinhedo, in São Paulo, with 58 passengers and four crew members and it appears they all died.”
People online said they'd never seen a plane crash like it, as it didn’t do a typical ‘nosedive’ to the ground - seeming to spin down from the sky instead.
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The initial statement from the airline shared that there was ‘no confirmation of how the accident occurred’.
However, new details could suggest one possible factor that contributed to the horror crash.
Flight tracker website FlightRadar24 revealed the plane was flying at 17,000 feet before it crashed, and a 'severe icing' warning was issued at an altitude between 12,000 feet and 21,000 feet.
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Sky News explained that icing issues can impact an aircraft by reducing its thrust, decreasing its lift and increasing the drag.
Marcelo Moura, the director of operations for Voe Pass, shared that even though there was a warning in place, the aircraft was in an acceptable window.
The full statement from the airline read: "The aircraft took off from Cascavel-PR bound for Guarulhos Airport, with 58 passengers and four crew members on board. VOEPASS has taken all measures to support those involved.
"There is still no confirmation of how the accident occurred or the current situation of the people on board.
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"The Company is providing support via telephone at 0800 9419712, available 24 hours a day, providing information to all its passengers, family members and employees."
Ana Lucia, a witness to the crash told Sky News: "I thought it was going to fall in our yard.
"It was scary, but thank God there were no victims among the locals. It seems that the 62 people inside the plane were the real victims, though."
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Even though the cause of the crash hasn’t been confirmed, investigators said the plane's black box has been recovered and has been taken to a lab for analysis.
Britt Jones