1 of 2 | The Finnair ATR 72-500 aircraft pictured here is the same type owned by Brazilian airline Voepass that crashed in Brazil on Friday, killing 62 people. Photo by Valda Kalnina/EPA-EFE
Aug. 10 (UPI) – Brazilian airline Voepass raised the death toll to 62, with 58 passengers and four crew members on board its plane that crashed on Friday, and Brazilian investigators seized the plane’s flight recorders.
According to Voepass, flight 2283-PS-VPB took off from Cascavel in the state of Paraná at 11:46 a.m. local time and was headed for São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport.
Voepass had initially reported 57 passengers and four crew members, but the number of passengers was revised to 58 and the total number of fatalities increased to 62.
There were no survivors in the crash near the city of Vinhedo in the state of São Paulo.
The plane crashed in a residential area without causing any injuries among residents or visitors.
The aircraft was an ATR 72-500, a twin-engine turboprop aircraft used by regional airlines, designed in Italy and France and built in France by ATR.
The Brazilian Air Force’s investigative unit CENIPA said it had seized both of the plane’s flight recorders, including recordings of voices from the cockpit and flight data.
CENIPA will conduct the crash investigation while the Brazilian government will launch a judicial investigation, CENIPA Air Brigadier General Marcelo Morena told reporters.
The aircraft was built in 2010 and delivered to the Albanian airline Belle Air.
After Belle Air went out of business, Nordic Aviation Capital acquired the aircraft and leased them to Indonesian Pelita Air Service.
FlightGlobal reported that a “bounced landing” in 2017 damaged the plane’s nose gear, triggering an accident investigation.
Voepass leased, registered and received an airworthiness certificate for the aircraft in 2023.
All four deceased crew members had the necessary license and qualifications to fly the aircraft.
