Sao Paulo: No survivors after passenger plane carrying 61 people crashes in residential area in Brazil

An investigation is under way after a plane carrying 61 people plummeted into a gated community in the state of Sao Paulo in Brazil, killing all of those on board.

Officials have said only one home was damaged after the Voepass plane crashed in the municipality of Vinhedono and no residents were hurt.

Voepass earlier said there were 62 people on the plane, which was on its way from Cascavel in the state of Parana to Guarulhos in Sao Paulo state, but has since updated the number.

There were 57 passengers and 4 crew members on the flight, the airline has confirmed.

“The company regrets to inform that all 61 people on board flight 2283 died at the site,” Voepass said in a statement.

“At this time, Voepass is prioritising provision of unrestricted assistance to the victims’ families and effectively collaborating with authorities to determine the causes of the accident.”

Brazil’s federal police said it had begun its investigation, and had dispatched specialists in plane crashes and the identification of disaster victims.

Footage broadcast by Brazilian TV station GloboNews showed a large area on fire and smoke appearing to billow from a fuselage.

Video shared on social media showed the plane spinning out of control before crashing behind a cluster of trees close to houses.

Authorities sealed off the gated community where the crash took place as firefighters and the military police dispatched teams.

Voepass has not given any indication as to what may have caused the crash.

A Sao Paulo state official confirmed the plane’s black box flight recorder has been found.

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The flight tracker website FlightRadar24 has said there was an active warning for “severe icing” at an altitude of between 12,000 feet and 21,000 feet, and that the aircraft had been flying at 17,000 feet immediately prior to the crash.

Icing involves water droplets freezing and collecting on surfaces such as wings and propeller blades. It can hamper an aircraft’s performance by reducing thrust, decreasing lift and increasing drag.

Marcelo Moura, director of operations for Voepass, told reporters while there were forecasts for ice, they were within acceptable levels for the aircraft.

Lieutenant Colonel Carlos Henrique Baldi, of the Brazilian air force’s centre for the investigation and prevention of air accidents, said it was still too early to say whether ice caused the accident.

The plane is “certified in several countries to fly in severe icing conditions, including in countries unlike ours, where the impact of ice is more significant,” Baldi said.

Aircraft manufacturer ATR said it had been informed of an accident in Vinhedo involving one of its aircraft.

“Our first thoughts are with all the individuals affected by this event,” it said, adding that company specialists were “fully engaged” with the investigation into the crash and its customers.

The aircraft was listed by flight tracker website FlightRadar24 as a 14-year-old ATR 72-500 turboprop.

The website noted that in its final minute, the plane’s transponder recorded a vertical speed of between 8,000 and 24,000 feet per minute.

The upper end of that range would translate to a speed of 273 miles per hour.

A woman, who gave her name only as Ana Lucia, witnessed the crash and said: “I thought it was going to fall in our yard.

“It was scary, but thank God there were no victims among the locals. It seems that the 62 people inside the plane were the real victims, though.”

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has been speaking at an event in the south of the country where he said it appeared that all passengers and crew had died.

He later asked the crowd to stand and observe a minute of silence.