Brazil report cites icing, pilot actions, safety culture in deadly Voepass crash

Brazilian air accident investigators said on Thursday that a buildup of ice, failures in the aircraft's de-icing system, crew actions and deficiencies at regional airline Voepass contributed to the 2024 crash of an ATR turboprop that killed all 62 people on board.



Voepass Flight 2283 crashed on August 9, 2024, in the town of Vinhedo, about 80 km (50 miles) northwest of Sao Paulo, capturing global attention after images of the plane's last moments in a stalled "flat spin," rotating more like a falling leaf than diving toward the ground, circulated on social media.



The ATR 72-500 had departed from Cascavel, in southern Brazil, and was headed to Sao Paulo's Guarulhos international airport when it swirled out of control and plunged to the ground.



The final report into the accident released by Brazil's Center for Investigation and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents (Cenipa) found the aircraft encountered conditions favorable to severe icing and the plane's de-icing system experienced multiple failures, and the pilots switched it on and off several times amid icing warnings.