A plane carrying 61 people crashed in Vinhedo city of Sao Paulo state in Brazil. According to BBC, all the passengers have died. Airline Voipas had earlier said there were 62 people on board.
Voipas airline said the plane, bound for Sao Paulo’s Guarulhos International Airport, crashed. There were 57 passengers and 4 crew members in it. It is not known how the accident occurred.
The plane that crashed has the registration PS-VPB, an ATR 72-500. A total of 74 people can board it. However, reports are claiming that there were 62 people in the plane at the time of the crash.
The plane fell 17 thousand feet in one minute
According to CNN’s report, flight tracking data showed that the plane had lost altitude one and a half minutes before the crash. According to local time, till 1:21 pm the plane was flying at an altitude of 17 thousand feet. After this it fell about 250 feet in just 10 seconds.
It went up about 400 feet in the next eight seconds. After 8 seconds it reached 2 thousand feet below. Then, almost immediately, it started descending rapidly. It fell approximately 17 thousand feet in just one minute and caught fire.
Fell in a residential area, hit several houses
According to CNN Brazil report, the Civil Security Department has said that the plane fell in a residential area, but due to this there were no casualties on the ground. A residential house has been damaged. The aircraft had departed from Cascavel and was en route to Sao Paulo. According to Brazilian time, its signal disappeared at 1:30 pm.
Airline Voypas said it has still not confirmed how the accident occurred. According to the Valinhos authority near Vinhedo, no one survived the accident. Only one home in a nearby condominium complex was damaged, but no residents were injured.
7 teams of fire brigade deployed
7 teams including military police were deployed to rescue the victims of the plane crash. According to the government statement, teams from the Legal Medical Institute (IML) and people responsible for collecting the bodies have also been sent to the spot. Brazilian President Lula da Silva has expressed condolences to the families of the victims after the accident.