Passenger Plane Crash in Brazil Leaves 61 People Dead: Here’s What To Know

A passenger plane carrying 61 people crashed outside of São Paulo on Friday, killing everyone on board, the airline, Voepass Linhas Aéreas, said.

The airline said in a statement on its website that flight 2283 was on its way to São Paulo’s international airport Guarulhos from Cascavel when it crashed in Vinhedo, Brazil. 

Here’s everything we know about the incident so far.

Who was on board?

There were 57 passengers and four crew members on the plane, according to Voepass. The airline had previously said that there were 62 people on board, but later said there had been 61. Voepass said it was prioritizing providing assistance to the victims’ families and working with authorities to determine what had caused the crash.

At an event on Friday, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said that it appeared that everyone on board had died before it was confirmed by the airline. He asked everyone at the event to stand up to observe a minute of silence for the people on the flight.

Why did the plane crash?

Voepass said officials haven’t confirmed what caused the crash. The plane, which took off around 11:50 a.m. local time, lost signal around 1:30 p.m. time, before the crash, according to reports. It was scheduled to land around 2:00 p.m., according to FlightAware.

GloboNews, a Brazilian television news network, shared video footage of the crash on X, which showed the plane spiraling in the air before hitting the ground and then a black plume of smoke billowing up. Other footage from the outlet showed the fiery wreck. The plane appears to have crashed in a residential neighborhood.

The plane’s manufacturer, ATR, said in a statement on its website that it was aware of the accident: “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.”

Who is responding to the scene?

São Paulo officials said in a press release that an advanced command post was set up about 100 meters from the scene, and that firefighters had put out a blaze at the crash site. The government had dispatched officials from various departments to assist in identifying and collecting bodies.