Brazil: A plane crashed in Sao Paulo state, killing all 61 people on board. The twin-engine turboprop plane was flying from Cascavel in the southern state of Parana to Guarulhos airport in the city of Sao Paulo when it crashed in the city of Vinhedo, Voepass airline reported. Footage circulating on social media showed the plane descending vertically and spiraling down. The ATR 72-500 plane was carrying 57 passengers and four crew members. Local authorities say no one survived. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva expressed solidarity with the families and friends of the victims. Sao Paulo state Governor Tarcisio Gomes de Freitas declared three days of mourning. Officials said the flight recorders had been recovered. French-Italian aircraft maker ATR said it would cooperate with the investigation. The plane landed in a residential area but no one on the ground was injured. Authorities say only one house in a local condominium complex was damaged.
Video shows debris on fire and smoking in a large area full of houses.
Police and fire services are at the scene. According to tracking website Flightradar24, the plane took off from Cascavel at 11:56 local time (14:56 GMT). The last signal received from the plane was about an hour and a half later. Brazil’s civil aviation agency said the plane, built in 2010, was “in good operating condition, had a valid registration and airworthiness certificates”. It said the four crew members on board at the time of the crash were duly licensed and had valid qualifications. The Euopecan Cancer Hospital in Cascavel told BBC Brazil that two of its trainee doctors were among the passengers who died. The moment the passenger plane crashed was witnessed by local residents. “When I heard the plane falling, I looked out the window of my house and saw the moment the plane crashed,” Felipe Magalhaes told Reuters news agency, adding that the sight left her “terrified”. Another resident, Nathalie Sicari, told CNN Brazil she was having lunch when she heard a “very loud noise very close”, describing it as similar to the sound of a drone but “much faster”. “I went to the balcony and saw the plane spinning. Within a few seconds, I realised this was not a normal speed for a plane.”
