Tragic crash in Brazil: Voepass Airlines under scrutiny
On Friday in Brazil, there was a terrible plane crash in which 62 people died. Meanwhile, an employee of Voepass Airlines revealed recent incidents involving the airline's planes to Brazilian media. The company has canceled flights until August, citing "unforeseen operational circumstances."
Over the weekend, Voepass Airlines canceled all flights on the Fortaleza-Fernando de Noronha-Natal route until August 31. This decision was made due to "operational necessity" after the accident on Friday, August 9.
As a result of the tragedy, 62 people died. The ATR-72 airplane flew from Cascavel in Paraná state to São Paulo airport in Brazil. Suddenly, it began to fall and crashed in Vinhedo for reasons not yet explained. Onboard were 58 passengers and four crew members.
New, troubling information has emerged about another Voepass airplane. The ATR-42 turboprop serving the route where the accident occurred was found to have several technical problems, which had previously raised concerns among the crew.
Catastrophe in Brazil: Incidents with Voepass planes
In February, a crew member filed a complaint to his superior, reporting several malfunctions in the plane. One of them was a tear in the wing's de-icing system, which, according to him, could have been one of the reasons for the ATR-72's loss of lift. This was reported by the Brazilian portal "O Globo."
Additionally, the complaint indicated that the plane performed worrying maneuvers, such as detours and turns during the flight. Photos of two tears in the wing de-icing system are attached to the complaint.
It is worth noting that if this system does not work properly, flights are halted. However, this was not the only problem. A crew member noticed that the plane had one of its four brakes damaged, and there was a gap in the door large enough to fit a hand through.
Defects in Voepass aircraft
According to crew members and former Voepass employees reports, the Brazilian National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) prohibited the ATR-42 plane from flying in May.
ANAC confirmed that the Voepass airplane was taken out of service for safety element inspections. So far, Voepass Airlines has not addressed the problems related to this airplane, limiting itself to a brief statement on the flight cancellations.
