VINHEDO, Brazil - A passenger plane crashed into a gated residential community in Brazil's Sao Paulo state on Friday, killing all 61 people aboard and leaving a smoldering wreck, officials and the airline said.
The airline VOEPASS said its ATR 72 twin-engine turboprop was headed for Sao Paulo's international airport Guarulhos with 57 passengers and 4 crew members when it crashed in Vinhedo, about 50 miles northwest of Sao Paulo. The company said in a statement that all 61 people on board flight 2283 died at the site.
Witnesses at the scene reported no casualties among residents of the neighborhood where the plane crashed. State firefighters, military police, and civil defense authorities were dispatched to the location.
Sao Paulo's public security secretary Guilherme Derrite confirmed that no survivors were found and that the plane's black box was recovered, apparently intact.
The crash was the deadliest airline incident since January 2023, when 72 people died in Nepal after a Yeti Airlines plane stalled and crashed during its landing approach. That plane was also an ATR 72, and the final report blamed pilot error.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who was attending an event in southern Brazil, asked the crowd to observe a minute of silence upon hearing the news.
The cause of the crash in Sao Paulo is under investigation, with authorities working to determine the exact circumstances that led to the tragic incident.
巴西聖保羅州飛機墜毀,61人全部罹難，航空公司稱
溫海多, 巴西 - 一架客機在上週五於巴西聖保羅州撞毀在一個有圍欄的住宅社區裡,造成機上61人全部罹難,留下一處焦黑的殘骸,官方和該航空公司表示。
航空公司VOEPASS稱,這架ATR 72型渦輪螺旋槳客機正前往聖保羅的國際機場瓜魯霍斯,機上載有57名乘客和4名機組人員,但在溫海多墜毀,離聖保羅市中心大約80公里。該公司在聲明中表示,該號為2283的航班上的61人全部罹難。
現場目擊者表示,墜毀地點的居民並無傷亡。聖保羅州消防隊、軍警和民防當局已趕抵現場。
聖保羅州公共安全秘書長紀爾梅·德里特確認,現場未發現任何生還者,且機上的黑匣子已被找到,看似未受損。
這次事故是自2023年1月以來最致命的航空事故,當時尼泊爾一架葉提航空公司的飛機在降落時失速墜毀,造成72人喪生。那架飛機也是ATR 72型,最後報告指出是飛行員錯誤所致。
正在南部巴西參加活動的總統魯拉在獲悉消息後,要求在場觀眾默哀一分鐘。
聖保羅墜機事故的原因正在調查中,當局正努力確定造成這起悲劇的確切情況。
Comments