SAO PAULO: A Brazilian airliner has crashed in the state of Sao Paulo killing all 62 people on board.
The horrific crash occurred Friday afternoon.
The Voepass Linhas Aereas plane was on a flight from Cascavel in Parana state, and was heading to Guarulhos in Sao Paulo state.
Voepass is a regional airline based in Sao Paulo.
The plane appeared to go into a tailspin over the town of Vinhedo where it came down. The ATR 72-500 plane had been acquired by the airline two years ago, it was manufactured in 2010, according to the Brazilian Aeronautical Registry.
A statement by ATR was released on Friday. "What we can say at this point in time is that ATR has been informed that an accident occurred in Vinhedo, Brazil, involving an ATR 72-500. Our first thoughts are with all the individuals affected by this event. The ATR specialists are fully engaged to support both the investigation and the customer," the statement said.
Initially aviation authorities said there were 62 people aboard
Although the plane crashed into a residential area of Vinhedo, no casualties on the ground were reported.
The Sao Paulo State Firefighters Corps were amongst first responders to descend on the scene, followed by Cenipa (Centro de Investigacoes e Prevencao a Accidentes) and the Technical-Scientific Police of Sao Paulo.
The rescue and identification work of the victims will be carried out concurrently, the governor's office said. The bodies will be sent to the central unit of the Medical Legal Institute (IML) of the city of Sao Paulo
The facility has more than 20 doctors, in addition to legal dentistry, anthropology and radiology teams. From Capital, five body collection teams are being sent.
"A crisis cabinet, with representatives of the security and rescue forces of the Government of SP and members of the Ministry of Ports and Airports, the National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac), the Government of the State of Parana and social assistance professionals, has been created to assist our work," Sao Paulo Governor Tarcisio de Freitas said Friday.
Freitas had been in Vitoria for meetings of the Consortium of Integration South and Sudeste, but returned back to Sao Paulo on Friday and headed immediately to Vinhedo to monitor the work of the teams.
"An advanced command post was mounted approximately 100 meters from the scene. The Fire Brigade was activated at 1pm and immediately sent seven teams to the Capela neighborhood in Vinhedo to assist in emergency response. The Superintendence of the Technical-Scientific Police (SPTC), the Civil and Military Police and the Civil Defense of the State reinforce non-local equipment. The Legal Medical Institute (IML) is responsible for collecting bodies and is also responsible for reinforcing our work," the governor's office said in a statement.
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