According to Voepass Airlines, the operator of the aircraft, the ATR 72 twin-engine aircraft, which was carrying 58 passengers and 4 crew members, nose-dived and crashed near Vinhedo while en route to Guarulhos international airport in Sao Paulo.
The accident happened on August 9, 2024, and those who died included a Venezuelan family with their dog, a lawyer specializing in airline disputes, a three-year-old daughter named Liz Ibba dos Santos and her father, Rafael Fernando dos Santos, as well as six internationally renowned cancer doctors and two resident medics heading to an oncology conference, according to local media.
All 62 victims’ remains—including the later-found unaccounted-for passenger on the aircraft—were retrieved, emergency personnel announced on Saturday.
From Sao Paulo, Al Jazeera’s Monica Yanakiew stated, “The person is a passenger who was not on the list of names released last night because, for technical reasons, his identity had not been confirmed.”
Among the recognized scientists are:
1. Senior radiologist Dr. José Roberto Leonel Ferreira, who made a big contribution to radiology, especially pediatric radiology.
2. Dr. Mariana Belim, an intensivist at Western Paraná University Hospital (Huop), who works in the Adult ICU.
3. Dr. Ariane Risso of the Cascavel, Uopeccan Cancer Hospital.
4. Edilson Hobold, a physical education professor.
5. Deonir Secco, an agricultural engineering professor.
6. Raquel Ribeiro Moreira, a literature at the college in Cascavel.
These were well-respected experts in their domains who were traveling to an oncology conference to further their expertise on a disease that claims the lives of tens of thousands of Brazilians annually.
“They were people used to saving lives, and now they lost theirs in such tragic circumstances,” Paraná Governor Ratinho Júnior said to reporters on Friday in Vinhedo. He also said that he had acquaintances on board the crashed aircraft. “It is a sad day.”
The Daily Mail claims that the aircraft entered a “death spiral” and fell to the ground in fifty seconds while it was at a height of 16,000 feet. Around 1.30 p.m. local time (5.30 p.m. BST), according to eyewitnesses who recorded the collision, the vehicle seemed to stall before spiraling to the ground and crashing into a home’s backyard within a gated enclave. At that point, it turned into a flaming wreck.
The bodies of 34 men and 28 women were taken to a police morgue in São Paulo, where their identities will be confirmed and their relatives notified.
The cause of the plane crash is still under investigation by the authorities.