‘No survivors’ as plane carrying 61 crashes in Brazil

A plane crash in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil, left no survivors among the 61 people on board, say officials.
Images on social media showed the ATR 72 twin-engine turboprop aircraft, operated by local airliner Voepass, spinning down and crashing in flames in the town of Vinhedo. It was about 60 miles from its destination, Guarulhos airport, which serves the city of Sao Paulo.
According to the airline, the plane was carrying 57 passengers and four crew members. Unconfirmed reports suggest the pilot may have requested permission from air traffic control to fly at a lower altitude due to ice build-up.
“There is still no confirmation of how the accident occurred or the current situation of the people on board,” Voepass said in a statement.
Brazil’s civil defence service said the plane hit multiple houses as it crashed, but there were no reported deaths on the ground. Firefighters were called to the scene at about 1pm local time (5pm BST).
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was holding a press conference in southern Brazil when news of the disaster emerged. He called for a minute’s silence as he shared what he said was “some very bad news”.
The aircraft, registration PS-VPB, was en route from Cascavel airport, in the state of Parana, to Guarulhos. It was a 14-year-old ATR-72-500, built in 2010.
The French-Italian manufacturer said in a statement that company specialists were “fully engaged to support both the investigation and the customer”.
Brazil’s federal police said that it was dispatching crash experts to the crash site.
The ATR 72 generally is used for shorter flights. Various models of the ATR 72 have resulted in 470 deaths going back to the 1990s, according to the Aviation Safety Network database.
At least three passengers missed the flight due to confusion at the boarding gate in Cascavel airport.
Adriano Assis told Brazil’s Globo news that he had argued with an airline worker after he was told he could not board one hour before the plane left. “But he ended up saving my life,” he said.