Plane carrying 62 people crashes in Brazil with no survivors, official says

BRASÍLIA – A domestic flight in Brazil carrying 62 people crashed near São Paulo on Friday, killing everyone on board, Brazilian officials said.

Tarcísio Gomes de Freitas, the governor of São Paulo state, said he had been informed that there were no survivors in the crash. He added that he was planning to go to Vinhedo, the city where the plane crashed.

The Brazilian airline Voepass said in a statement posted on its website that there was no information immediately available about how the crash happened or the condition of the 58 passengers and four crew members aboard Flight 2283 from Cascavel to São Paulo.

At a public appearance Friday, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called for a moment of silence, saying he was the bearer of “some very bad news,” sharing the news of the crash.

Video of the crash site in Vinhedo showed smoke billowing. Aerial footage broadcast by Brazil’s GloboNews showed the wreckage – scorched pieces of the plane – in a residential area.

According to the flight tracking site Flightradar24, the plane took off shortly before noon local time, reaching an altitude of about 17,000 feet. At about 1:20 p.m. local time, it started to drop sharply, falling to an altitude of 4,100 feet in the span of two minutes, according to Flightradar24.

Voepass, formerly Passaredo Airlines, is a small airline that mostly caters to rural south and southwest Brazil.

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Pietsch reported from Washington. Jon Gerberg contributed to this report.