A Brazilian plane traveling to Guarulhos, Brazil, crashed into a residential area outside São Paulo on Friday afternoon, killing all 61 passengers and crew members, according to the airline Voepass.
Dramatic footage of the crash has since made its way to social media, with the clip showing the plane’s rapid descent and eventual explosion on the ground.
In a statement, Voepass said ‘[they] regret to inform that all 61 people, including 57 passengers and 4 crew, on flight 2283 perished in the crash’
Communications director of Valinhos, the closest city to the crash, confirmed that there are no survivors. They also added that no one was injured on the ground.
Emergency teams are currently working through the crash site. An investigation hyas also been launched.
According to flight tracking data, the twin-engine turboprop aircraft descended 17,000 feet in approximately 60 seconds. It is not yet clear as to why the ATR 72-500 dropped out of the air so rapidly.
Videos on social media show the aircraft spiraling out of the sky before crashing and exploding on the ground as local residents yelled out in terror. Another clip showed the burned wreckage lying at the site.
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the President of Brazil, addressed the crash during a scheduled speech at a naval event, and called for a minute of silence to mark those who passed away in the incident. He later declared that the country will enter three days of mourning.
According to data from Flightradar24, the plane had left the state of Cascavel and was traveling to Guarulhos when its signal disappeared from the radar shortly before 1:30 p.m.
In total, the plane lost altitude for nearly a minute and half before reaching the ground. Prior to dropping, it had been cruising at 17,000 feet. After dropping 250 feet in 10 seconds, it went up 400 feet in about 8 seconds, before dropping 2,000 feet.
Then, within the next minute, the plane began to drop rapidly – approximately 17,000 feet in less than a minute.
According to authorities, the black box has been recovered from the crash site. Medical workers are also at the scene working to identify victims, many of whom are hard to identify due to significant burns.
The first three bodies have since been removed from the site, and families of those onboard have been asked to share details about the victims to help identify the bodies.
The fires from the plane crash are currently under control.
On Friday, Vinhedo City Hall said the Brazil Air Force Team will be leading the air crash investigation.
Brigadier Moreno, the head of Brazil’s aviation accidents agency, said the crew on the plane did not communicate to airspace controllers that there was an emergency prior to the rapid descent and crash.
According to registration data, the aircraft involved in the incident was manufactured in 2010 and was purchased by the Brazilian airline two years ago.
