09/07/2024 – 7:16
The Aeronautical Accident Investigation and Prevention Center (Cenipa) presented this Friday, the 6th, the preliminary report of the accident of the Voepass plane, which crashed in Vinhedo, in the interior of São Paulo, on August 9th, causing the death of the 62 people on board. The aircraft, an ATR-72, was en route from Cascavel, in Paraná, to Guarulhos International Airport, but lost lift and suffered the fatal crash minutes before reaching its destination.
In a statement, Voepass Linhas Aéreas says that a preliminary report released by Cenipa (read the full report here) confirms that “the aircraft had a valid Airworthiness Verification Certificate (CVA)”, “with all required systems in operation” and that “both pilots were fit to carry out the flight”.
The document indicates that the aircraft’s crew pointed out faults in the aircraft’s de-icing system (the airframe de-icing), both after takeoff and minutes before the crash, when the co-pilot said “a lot of ice”, as recorded by the plane’s black box.
Cenipa’s investigations also indicate that this same system was turned on three times, but that it was turned off in sequence shortly before the aircraft lost lift. Cenipa’s experts stated that it is not possible to say whether this activation/deactivation was caused automatically or mechanically.
The report also said the plane issued two alerts: one for a drop in speed (Cruise Speed Low); and another, at an even higher level, for Degraded Performance. According to Cenipa, such warnings could be displayed “if the aircraft’s drag increased due to ice accumulation and performance was degraded.”
Experts heard by State They say that the report presented this Friday is far from being a definitive conclusion on the cause of the accident, and that many factors still need to be analyzed during the investigation.
“Some hypotheses that were previously just speculation are gaining strength, such as the case of ice accumulation, which may have led to a loss of speed and aerodynamics, and a total loss of lift,” says Romildo Moreira, Technical Director of the Brazilian Aviation Safety Association (Abravoo).
For him, the new thing brought by the report was the failures in the de-icing system reported by the crew. “One of the systems had some problem. The pilot himself mentioned this, as presented in the report”, says the director of Abravoo. “Could it be that some part of the surface of the control area, the elevator, the rudder, got stuck? The ice could reach all of these. I am not saying that this is what happened, but it could have happened”, he says.
Moreira says that the investigations should explain why some procedures were not adopted when necessary. “It was also reported that the plane was losing speed. Why was power not given if there was a loss of speed? Why did the aircraft not descend to the lowest level immediately? That is what the investigation will answer.”
The expert recalls that, before the crash, the ATR-72 was close to landing in Guarulhos. It is at this point that the aircraft’s navigation becomes more restricted because, upon entering the landing line, it needs to adjust its speed and altitude according to the needs of flight control. As shown, the aircraft began to show a loss of lift and stall after making a right turn.
“In these cases, the pilot has the freedom to take the necessary action. If he is in a critical situation, he must declare an emergency and make the command he deems best. He can declare an emergency, informing flight control that he is descending and for control to remove the other aircraft from below,” says Romildo Moreira.
“Could there have been ice build-up on some control surface? Yes. Why did he react that way? These are details that only a more in-depth investigation will be able to answer,” he adds.
‘We can’t link the accident to the ice’
Aviator Fernando de Borthole, who publishes aviation content, is more cautious. He says that the information is still too preliminary to make any definitive assumptions. “We can’t link the accident to the ice. The ice may be a contributing factor, but we can’t say that it was the ice that brought the plane down,” he says.
Fernando Borthole believes that the ice may have been a contributing factor to the plane’s loss of lift, but that other factors also led to the accident. “Also because other aircraft were passing through that region and this was the only one that crashed. The ice was not a particularity of this plane at that time,” he adds.
Regarding the speed loss warnings, Borthole follows the same line: he does not rule out the contribution of ice accumulation, but that other factors may also have led to this situation.
“You could have more headwinds, more ice accumulating on the plane. There are several factors that can lead to this loss of speed. And, as the report said, there were warnings about a reduction in cruising speed. We have to understand why actions were not taken to remove the warning and get out of that situation,” he explains.
For Fernando Borthole, the report was also important in putting an end to speculation that air traffic control had been negligent with the situation of the ATR-72. “We can deny claims that air traffic control denied any emergency request from the pilots. None of that happened. The flight was conducted normally.”
Voepass
In a statement, Voepass says that the preliminary report released by Cenipa “confirms that the aircraft on flight 2283 had a valid Airworthiness Verification Certificate (CVA) and all required systems were in operation”, in addition to that “both pilots were fit to carry out the flight, with all valid pilot certifications and updated training.”
“It is important to remember that the investigation of an air accident is a complex process, which involves multiple factors and requires time to be conducted properly. Only the final report from Cenipa will be able to conclusively indicate the causes of the incident,” the company said in the statement.
Voepass says it strictly follows “all protocols that attest to the compliance of its entire fleet,” and that it remains at the authorities’ disposal to collaborate with the investigations. It also says it has supported the families of the victims and that the safety of passengers and crew is the company’s “top priority.”
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