Official says airplane was irregularly cleared for departure earlier than crash that killed 62 folks exterior Sao Paulo.
Revealed On 7 Aug 2026
Brazil’s federal police have formally accused 16 present and former staff of the Voepass airline of actions contributing to the August 2024 crash that killed all 62 folks on board the airplane.
Investigators on Thursday introduced a number of acts of alleged malpractice, omission and negligence by the corporate.
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Voepass proprietor and president Jose Luiz Felicio Filho was amongst these formally accused over the accident that occurred within the metropolis of Vinhedo, exterior Sao Paulo. Native prosecutors should nonetheless resolve whether or not he and the opposite accused shall be charged at a date to be decided.
Other than the proprietor, the police accused 15 former and current Voepass staff of endangering air site visitors security, leading to a deadly catastrophe, which may put them in jail for as much as 12 years. Further fees in opposition to a number of the group embody the omission of technical failures from plane logbooks.
The accident occurred when an ATR 72-500 twin-engine turboprop en route from Cascavel, within the southern state of Parana, to Guarulhos worldwide airport plummeted 13,000 toes (3,960 metres) into the again yard of a gated condominium, killing 58 passengers and 4 crew members.
Investigators added that the plane’s knowledge recorders confirmed that its de-icing system had repeatedly failed or was manually cycled on and off throughout 136 flights.
Federal police investigator Andre Ribeiro stated the plane was irregularly cleared for departure into identified extreme icing situations regardless of experiencing de-icing system failures on three prior flights that very same day.
“This can be a watershed in air crash disasters right here,” stated Ribeiro, who additionally recommended prosecutors ought to look into new potential accusations in opposition to the Nationwide Civil Aviation Company of Brazil (ANAC).
Two-year investigation
Thalles Andrade, a lawyer for the households of the victims, stated in a press release that he’ll search damages “in opposition to everybody accountable, folks and firms, together with administrators, corporations concerned within the operation and in ticket gross sales”.
“We’ll go for everybody who, by motion or omission, contributed to this,” Andrade stated.
The 16 folks formally accused within the case didn’t make feedback concerning the federal police transfer.
The federal police findings have been introduced in a information convention after a two-year investigation. The drive concluded that deliberate omissions, improper upkeep practices, and organisational failures straight contributed to sending the plane into harmful climate situations.
Final month, a Brazilian Air Drive probe confirmed {that a} mixture of extreme icing situations, mechanical system failures and pilot distractions contributed to the incident.
