Debris at the scene of a plane crash carrying 62 people in Vinhedo, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, early Saturday morning, August 10, 2024.
Andre Penner/AP
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Andre Penner/AP
SAO PAULO (AP) — The pilots of a Brazilian passenger jet that crashed last month, killing all 62 people on board, reported a failure in the system that removed ice from the plane, according to a preliminary report released Friday.
Investigators in Brazil have been careful to avoid saying that this was the cause of the crash, stressing that much work remains to be done. But their report has added credence to the main theory among aviation experts: that the loss of lift was caused by ice forming on the plane’s wings and a failure of the anti-icing system.
Weather reports on the day of the crash predicted ice formation in the area where the plane crashed.
Paulo Fróes, an investigator at the air force’s center for investigation and prevention of aviation accidents, told reporters in Brasilia that audio from the cockpit voice recorder included comments from the pilot saying ice was building up and the anti-icing system had failed.
Just two minutes before the plane crashed, the co-pilot said: “There’s a lot of ice.”
According to their report, the plane’s data recorder also showed that the anti-icing system, which prevents ice from building up on the wings, was turned on and off several times.
“There are still many doubts. This accident should not have happened, not in the conditions in which the plane was flying and being operated. It had protective equipment,” said Carlos Henrique Baldin, head of the center’s investigation department.
Operated by Voepass, the flight departed on August 9 from Cascavel, Parana state, bound for Sao Paulo’s Guarulhos International Airport. The plane crashed into the backyard of a house in a gated community in Vinhedo, about 80 km (50 miles) northwest of the capital Sao Paulo.
Footage of a twin-engine ATR 72 turboprop plane crashing while spinning has horrified people across Brazil.
“Based on the preliminary report, it cannot be said with certainty that ice on the wings caused the accident, but there are indications that ice formation was a significant contributing factor,” Henrique Hacklaender, president of the national aviation union, told The Associated Press after the news conference.
Hacklaender said the ATR 72’s de-icing system was operated manually by the pilot and preliminary reports indicated that the system was activated during the flight, suggesting an attempt to use it. However, the report did not clarify whether the system was actually used, he added.
The air force center, known as Cenipa, is continuing to investigate the cause of the crash without a specific deadline for its conclusion. They are also cooperating with the ongoing Federal Police investigation to determine whether anyone is responsible for the crash.
ATR is a Franco-Italian company. Its Model 72 is commonly used on short-haul flights. The planes are built by a joint venture between Airbus of France and Leonardo SpA of Italy. According to the Aviation Safety Network database, crashes involving various ATR 72 models have resulted in 470 fatalities since the 1990s.
It is the deadliest air accident since January 2023, when 72 people died when a Yeti Airlines plane in Nepal stalled and crashed while landing. That plane was also an ATR 72, and the final report blamed pilot error.
An American Eagle ATR 72-200 crashed on October 31, 1994, and the National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause was ice accumulation while the aircraft was flying in a holding pattern. The aircraft rolled at an altitude of approximately 8,000 feet (2,500 meters) and crashed, killing all 68 people on board. The Federal Aviation Administration issued operating procedures for the ATR and similar aircraft, requiring pilots not to engage the autopilot in icing conditions.
