A passenger has revealed how a cup of coffee saved him from boarding a Brazilian passenger plane that crashed killing everyone on board.
Dramatic video shows the Voepass Airlines plane spiraling out of the sky over a populated area before crashing near a group of trees on Friday.
All 62 people on board (58 passengers and four crew) were reported dead, although some relatives are still awaiting confirmation of the fate of their loved ones.
A man, Adriano Assis, had finished his shift at a hospital and was late to catch the 11:56 flight from Cascavel to São Paulo.
He told Brazilian media outlet G1 that he arrived at the check-in counter at 9.40am, but there was no one there.
Assis then decided to have a cup of coffee while looking at the departures and arrivals screen to see if there was any information available about flight 2283.
Adriano Assis revealed that he was not allowed to board Voepass Airlines flight 2283 because he had arrived late
Voepass Airlines Flight 2283 crashed on Friday in Vinhedo, a city in the state of São Paulo, southeastern Brazil.
Aerial view of the remains of a plane that crashed with 62 people on board in Vinhedo
Captain Danilo Santos Romano was identified on Saturday as the first victim of the horrific accident in the town of Vinhedo, local news reported.
But in doing so, he inadvertently gave himself very little time to check in and at 10.40 one of the agents told him it was too late to board.
Assis said he begged the agent to let him board his flight back to São Paulo.
“At that point, I argued with him and stuff, and that was it, and he saved my life, man,” he said.
‘He did his job because… if he hadn’t done it… maybe I wouldn’t be in this interview today, I’m sorry.’
The pilot of the crashed aircraft was confirmed today as Captain Danilo Santos Romano, 35 years old, who had ten years of experience.
Mr Romano, from Sao Paulo, worked as a pilot for more than a decade and joined Voepass Airlines in 2022, his LinkedIn profile shows.
He had logged more than 4,500 hours of flight time and was described by colleagues as “always smiling” and “willing to help”.
Mr Romano wrote in his LinkedIn profile description: ‘As captain of the ATR72, I am responsible for the safety of passengers, cargo and crew, as well as maintaining the airworthiness of the aircraft, to provide a safe, efficient and economical flight.
‘I am passionate about aviation and committed to providing the best service to our customers and partners.’
The 35-year-old has also been described as a fan of Palmeiras football club and a keen runner.
Mr Romano was in the cockpit when the Voepass Airlines plane spiralled into a populated area before crashing behind a stand of trees on Friday.
Witnesses previously described their horror at seeing the plane “fall from the sky and explode”, as experts continue to try to understand what happened.
Mr Romano worked as a pilot for more than a decade and joined Voepass Airlines in 2022, his LinkedIn profile shows.
The image shows the Voepass Airlines plane spiraling out of the sky just before impact.
According to the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC), the plane was an ATR-72-500
Vinhedo City Council reported that all 58 passengers and four crew members on the flight died.
The VOEPASS flight was heading from Cascavel to Guarulhos when it crashed
“I almost think the pilot tried to avoid a nearby neighbourhood, which is densely populated,” Daniel de Lima, a resident of Vinhedo, near the crash site, told Reuters.
On Friday, regional airline Voepass said the plane was carrying 57 passengers and four crew, but on Saturday the company confirmed there was another unaccounted for passenger on the flight, raising the death toll to 62.
All those on board were carrying documents issued in Brazil, the airline said.
Some of the passengers were doctors from Paraná who were heading to a seminar, Governor Ratinho Junior told reporters.
“These were people who were used to saving lives and now they have lost theirs in such tragic circumstances,” he said.
Daniel de Lima said he heard a loud noise Friday before looking outside his condo and seeing the plane in a horizontal spiral.
“It was spinning, but it wasn’t moving forward,” he told Reuters. “Shortly after that it fell out of the sky and exploded.”
“When I heard the sound of the plane falling, I looked out of the window of my house and saw the moment it crashed,” witness Felipe Magalhaes told Reuters.
“Terrified and not knowing what to do, I jumped over the wall,” he said.
The plane was heading from Cascavel to Guarulhos flying at 17,000 feet when it began a sudden descent and crashed.
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