Eight oncologists were among the 62 passengers and crew who died when a Brazilian airliner dramatically plunged from the sky and exploded in a fireball.
Six prominent oncologists and two resident physicians, in their final year of training, were heading from their hometown of Cascavel to a cancer conference in Sao Paulo when the VoePass Airline ATR 72-500 twin-engine turboprop flight crashed in a gated community killing all on board on Friday.
Eduardo Baptistella, from the Regional Medical Council, said: “Unfortunately we received very sad news and we were able to confirm the death of eight doctors. The doctors were on their way to an oncology conference. They were people who dedicated their lives to saving others.”
Some of the doctors’ names began to emerge last night, including radiologist Leonel Ferreira, pediatric cancer expert Sarah Stella and Silvia Osaki.
Mr Baptistella said 15 doctors were scheduled to take the two-hour flight, but seven had taken an earlier flight.
This photo shows an aerial view of the wreckage of a plane that crashed with 61 people on board in Vinhedo, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, on August 10, 2024.
Six prominent oncologists and two resident physicians, in their final year of training, were heading from their hometown of Cascavel to a cancer conference in Sao Paulo when the plane crashed.
The plane can be seen in a “death spiral” before crashing in a residential area on Friday.
A spokesperson for Cascavel University Cancer Hospital confirmed the deaths of two final-year oncology residents, Arianne Risso, 28, and Mariana Belim, 29, adding: “It is with immense pain that we can confirm the death of the clinical oncology residents.
“There are no words to express the sadness we feel in the face of this great tragedy.”
VoePass Flight 2283 crashed 50 miles northwest of Sao Paulo en route to the city’s Guarulhos International Airport.
The plane was at an altitude of 16,000 feet when it entered a “death spiral” and fell to the ground within fifty seconds.
Eyewitnesses who filmed the crash said the plane appeared to stop before circling and plummeting to the ground and bursting into flames at around 1:30pm local time (5:30pm BST).
Last night the airline confirmed that ten people who were waiting at the wrong boarding gate in Cascavel miraculously missed their flight.
The plane was heading from Cascavel to Guarulhos flying at 17,000 feet when it began its sudden descent.
Pictured: The wreckage of the Voepass Airlines plane that crashed in Brazil
Debris is shown as emergency personnel work at the site of a plane crash on Friday.
Dramatic video from the scene on Friday showed a Voepass plane falling from the sky as it plunged behind a group of trees near homes, followed by a large plume of black smoke.
Captain Danilo Santos Romano was identified today as the first victim of the horrific accident in the city of Vinhedo
Mr Romano worked as a pilot for more than a decade and joined Voepass Airlines in 2022, his LinkedIn profile shows.
One man, who did not give his name, told CNN: ‘The monitor was showing the wrong door and there were ten of us sitting there and we realised we were in the wrong place.
‘We ran to the right gate and I asked one of the agents, “Girl, put me on this plane, I have to go, I have to go,” but she said, “No, you’re too late and I can just reschedule your flight.”
Friends of pilot Danilo Romano, 35, who has ten years of flying experience, described him as “an incredible professional” who was “always smiling and willing to help.”
Although the pilot did not make any distress calls, aviation experts say the plane may have experienced sudden icing on its wings.
The flight’s black box was recovered in good condition.
