Update: Friday, August 9, 3:50 p.m. EST: The New York Times is reporting that all 62 people onboard the plane were killed in the crash, according to Brazilian authorities. The plane also did not hit any homes, contrary to earlier reports, and no one on the ground was injured.
A passenger plane with 62 people onboard crashed on the outskirts of Sāo Paulo, Brazil. On its way down, the plane hit multiple houses. There’s no word on the fate of the people on the plane or on the ground, but Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said it “appears” all the passengers may have died in the crash.
The Voepass Linhas Aéreas plane – flight 2283 – left Cascavel, Brazil and was en route to Sāo Paulo when it lost signal shortly before 1:30 p.m. local time (12:30 p.m. EST), with 58 passengers and four crew members onboard, according to CNN.
“I would like everyone to stand up so that we can observe a minute of silence because a plane has just crashed in the city of Vinhedo, in São Paulo, with 58 passengers and 4 crew members and it appears they all died,” the Brazilian president said in a video posted to social media.
The airline was not as quick to say the fate of the people on the plane – an ATR 72 twin-turboprop. In a statement to CNN, a spokesperson said, “There is still no confirmation of how the accident occurred or the current situation of the people on board.”
Video posted to social media shows the plane spiraling out of the sky, and a few more show the plane’s wreckage in flames on the ground. I don’t want to say it’s impossible for anyone to survive this, but it would take a miracle.
This is a developing story, and Jalopnik will update it as more information becomes available.