Company confirms death of unlisted passenger on flight 2283; Number of victims of the air disaster in Vinhedo rises to 62
According to Voepass, Constantino Thé Maia's name was not on the list due to a "technical issue identified by the company related to check-in validations". The plane crashed on Friday in a residential area of Vinhedo, in the interior of São Paulo.
Images of the plane after the accident - Photo Reproduction / TV Globo
The air tragedy that shook the city of Vinhedo gained a new chapter this Saturday (10). The airline VoePass, responsible for flight 2283, confirmed the death of a passenger who was not on the official list of passengers on the aircraft, bringing the total number of victims to 62. The company explained that Constantino Thé Maia's name was not on the list of passengers boarded due to a "technical issue" related to the validation of check-in, boarding and passenger counting.
In a statement, VoePass stated that, in respect of the identity of the passenger and his family, decided to confirm Constantino's presence on the flight only when all doubts had been clarified. According to the family, who already considered Constantino missing since Friday, he was 50 years old, lived in Rio Grande do Norte and worked as a commercial representative for several companies in the construction sector.
Air Disaster
The disaster occurred in the early afternoon of last Friday (09), when the aircraft, model ATR-72, fell from almost 4 thousand meters in 1 minute, in a residential area in the city of São Paulo. The commercial plane, which took off from Cascavel, Paraná, bound for Guarulhos International Airport, in São Paulo, flew for 1 hour and 35 minutes without registering any anomalies until it made a sudden turn and disappeared from the radar. The impact occurred on the land of a house in the Recanto Florido residential condominium, resulting in an explosion.
According to authorities, no one was injured on the ground.. The 62 people aboard the aircraft lost their lives, making it the country's worst air disaster in terms of casualties since 2007. The cause of the accident is still unknown, but the plane's spiraling descent suggests the possibility of a stall, a phenomenon in which the aircraft loses the support necessary to maintain flight, according to experts. During a stall, the aircraft's wing completely loses its lifting capacity, causing a sudden fall. The possibility of recovering the flight depends on the altitude and conditions at the time.
Chronological Order of the Tragedy in Vinhedo
The aircraft carried 58 passengers and 4 crew - Photo Reproduction / Flight Radar website
The aircraft took off at 11:46 am and the flight took place without incident until 12:20 pm. After 24 minutes, it climbed until it reached an altitude of 5,000 meters at 12:23 pm, maintaining this altitude until 1:21 pm, when it began to lose altitude. At that moment, the aircraft performed a sharp curve. According to the Brazilian Air Force (FAB), as of 1:21 p.m., the aircraft did not respond to communications from São Paulo Approach Control, did not declare an emergency or report adverse weather conditions.
At 1:22 pm, one minute after the last record, the altitude had dropped to 1,250 meters, representing a descent of approximately 4,000 meters at a speed of 440 km/h. The Airspace Control Department (DECEA) reported that 'Salvaero' (the body that is responsible for coordinating search and rescue operations), was called at 1:26 pm and found the aircraft crashed inside a condominium.
Updates to date
The latest update informs that 21 bodies were removed from the rubble and sent to the Legal Medical Institute (IML) in São Paulo for identification. The investigation carried out during the night was conducted by a crisis office made up of the Federal, Military, Civil and Scientific police, in addition to Cenipa, the Fire Department, Civil Defense and representatives of the airline VoePass. A 3D scanner, used by the Federal Police, is an advanced technology that makes it easier to locate bodies. Maycon Cristo, spokesperson for the Fire Department, detailed the work carried out: initially, an examination was carried out on the outside of the aircraft and then a more meticulous process of cutting out the aircraft began to remove parts located in areas of difficulty to access.
"We consider a document, cell phone, positioning on the aircraft, all of this to help with identification. Considering all this collection of evidence, then we remove the body, put it in the car and take it to the IML in São Paulo to complete the identification", explained the spokesperson.
The causes of the accident are still being investigated by the Aeronautical Accident Investigation and Prevention Center (Cenipa), the Air Force body responsible for investigating these events. According to information provided by the agency, the aircraft's black boxes were found near the plane's wreckage and have already been sent for analysis at the agency's headquarters in Brasília.
The National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac) expressed its regret over the incident and reported that it will monitor "the service provided to the victims and their families by the company, in addition to adopting the necessary measures to investigate the situation of the aircraft and crew." The Federal Police also announced the opening of an investigation to investigate the accident.
