In a tragic turn of events, a twin-engine turboprop plane crashed in Brazil last Friday, claiming the lives of all 62 people on board.
The pilot of the ill-fated aircraft was identified as 35-year-old Captain Danilo Santos Romano, a seasoned aviator with a decade of experience under his belt. Romano, who had been with the Voepass airline since 2022, was the first victim named following the devastating crash, as reported by Brazilian media outlet Globo TV News.
Romano, a resident of So Paulo, had amassed over 4,500 total flight hours, according to his LinkedIn profile. A colleague's review painted a picture of a man who was "always smiling" and "willing to help." His Facebook profile revealed a vibrant life outside of his aviation career, with images of him participating in a recent 15K run and celebrating the Palmeiras football club.
The ATR 72-500 aircraft, piloted by Romano, plummeted into a residential neighborhood in Vinhedo, carrying 58 passengers and four crew members, officials confirmed on Saturday morning. Among the victims were co-pilot Humberto de Campos Alencar e Silva, 61, and flight attendant Dbora Soper Avila, 29. The passenger list also included several doctors en route to a seminar, and a father, Rafael Fernando dos Santos, with his three-year-old daughter, Liz Ibba Dos Santos.
The initial death toll of 61 was revised on Saturday when officials confirmed an additional passenger who was not on the manifest due to a "technical issue," as reported by Globo TV News. By Saturday morning, 15 bodies had been retrieved from the wreckage and transported to the Legal Medical Institute for formal identification.
The So Paulo-bound plane had taken off from Cascavel at 11:56 a.m. local time on Friday, flying without incident for approximately an hour and a half. There were no distress calls from the crew or reports of adverse weather conditions. Ports and Airports Minister Silvio Costa Filho informed reporters that there was no evidence of the crew attempting to contact controllers at nearby regional airports.
Voepass CEO Eduardo Busch defended his crew at a press conference, stating, "The entire crew was competent." He added, "We are waiting for access to all communications between the pilot and the control tower to have a broader understanding of what happened." The plane's black box, containing voice recordings and flight data, was recovered from the crash site, confirmed So Paulo Public Security Secretary Guilherme Derrite. The contents of the box will be scrutinized for potential clues about what caused the plane to descend over 13,000 feet in a single minute.
The chilling descent was captured in a video that showed the aircraft spiraling to the ground. This incident echoes the October 1994 crash of an American Eagle ATR 72-200 over Indiana, which was eventually attributed to ice buildup while the plane was circling in a holding pattern. Marcelo Moura, the director of operations for Voepass, acknowledged the presence of ice in the forecast for Friday but asserted it was within acceptable levels for the aircraft.
The aircraft, certified to fly in severe icing conditions in several countries, crashed in the yard of a private home in a condominium community. There were no injuries reported on the ground. As of Saturday, forensic teams and investigators were still at the crash site, working diligently to retrieve the bodies of the victims and collect evidence from the wreckage.
This tragic incident underscores the inherent risks of aviation and the importance of stringent safety measures. As the investigation unfolds, the hope is that it will shed light on the cause of the crash, providing closure for the victims' families and potentially preventing future tragedies of this nature.
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