A plane carrying 61 people crashed in Brazil’s Sao Paulo state on Friday, killing everyone on board, according to government officials.
VoePass flight 2283 took off from Cascavel, in the state of Parana, just before noon on its way to the Sao Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport. The ATR-72 lost signal around 1:22 pm local time and crashed in Vinhedo, 50 miles northwest of Sao Paulo city.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva addressed the crash shortly after the plane hit the ground.
“I would like everyone to stand up so that we can observe a minute of silence,” Silva said in an address.
Video shows the plane spiraling downwards into a neighborhood. Additional footage showed a large area on fire and smoke billowing from the wreckage. The plane hit multiple houses, Brazil’s Civil Defense said.
The rapid descent began at 1:21 pm, reaching a maximum vertical speed of 24,000 feet per minute – about 10 times the normal rate of descent, and corresponding to 275mph, according to Flightradar24 data. The last data transmission is at 1:22 pm, when the aircraft is show as being at 4,100 feet with a vertical speed of over 12,000 feet per minute, around 140mph.
A nearby resident said she witnessed Voepass flight 2283 crash into her neighborhood as she was eating lunch.
She called the crash a “moment of panic” for the city of Vinhedo. She told the outlet she ducked down and began praying as the plane hit near her home.
The plane, carrying 68 people, hit multiple houses as it crashed, Brazil’s Civil Defense said
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