Official says aircraft was irregularly cleared for departure earlier than crash that killed 62 folks outdoors 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 aircraft.
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 passed off within the metropolis of Vinhedo, outdoors Sao Paulo. Native prosecutors should nonetheless resolve whether or not he and the opposite accused can 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. Extra fees towards a few 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 ft (3,960 metres) into the again yard of a gated condominium, killing 58 passengers and 4 crew members.
Investigators added that the plane’s information 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 mentioned the plane was irregularly cleared for departure into recognized extreme icing circumstances regardless of experiencing de-icing system failures on three prior flights that very same day.
“It is a watershed in air crash disasters right here,” mentioned Ribeiro, who additionally advised prosecutors ought to look into new potential accusations towards the Nationwide Civil Aviation Company of Brazil (ANAC).
Two-year investigation
Thalles Andrade, a lawyer for the households of the victims, mentioned in a press release that he’ll search damages “towards everybody accountable, folks and firms, together with administrators, corporations concerned within the operation and in ticket gross sales”.
“We are going to go for everybody who, by motion or omission, contributed to this,” Andrade mentioned.
The 16 folks formally accused within the case didn’t make feedback in regards to the federal police transfer.
The federal police findings have been introduced in a information convention after a two-year investigation. The power concluded that deliberate omissions, improper upkeep practices, and organisational failures immediately contributed to sending the plane into harmful climate circumstances.
Final month, a Brazilian Air Pressure probe confirmed {that a} mixture of extreme icing circumstances, mechanical system failures and pilot distractions contributed to the incident.
