A passenger who was scheduled to board the plane that crashed in Brazil has opened up about his near miss with fate.
Tragedy struck on Friday (August 9) when a VoePass Flight 2283 carrying 61 people plummeted into a gated community in the area of Vinhedo, not far from Sao Paulo, Brazil, killing all of those on board.
The small Brazilian airline confirmed in a statement that there were 57 passengers and four crew members on the flight, as reported by Sky News.
"The company regrets to inform that all 61 people on board flight 2283 died at the site," Voepass said. "At this time, Voepass is prioritising provision of unrestricted assistance to the victims' families and effectively collaborating with authorities to determine the causes of the accident," they added.
According to CBS News, the plane took off from Cascavel Airport at 11:46AM local time and was headed for Sao Paulo's international airport Guarulhos. At 12:23PM, the aircraft reached an altitude of 16,404 feet and began to descend at 1:21PM.
Distressing footage shared on social media showed the aircraft spinning out of control before crashing behind a cluster of trees close to houses.
It did not land on any residences, and no one on the ground was injured, officials confirmed.
“It fell next to a house, on a lot,” Dario Pacheco, Vinhedo’s mayor, said, per the New York Times. “Just next to it, the resident said he woke up to a noise and left running, and that all the people around also left, fearing an explosion.”
One man named Adriano Assis revealed that he was scheduled to board the doomed flight after his shift at a hospital but was running late.
He told Brazilian news outlet G1, which was cited by Daily Mail, that he noticed that there were no agents after he made it to the counter at 9:40AM so he waited, and watched the departure/arrival screen to see if there was any information available for the flight.
"When I decided it was already 10:30 am, there was a huge line here," he recalled. "I waited until it was 10:40 am or so. The guy said I wouldn't be boarding anymore because it was an hour before boarding."
Assis said that he begged the agent to let him board his return flight to São Paulo. "At that moment, 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, sorry."
Watch Assis' interview below:Another man who was meant to board also shared that he and three friends were among 10 passengers who were waiting by the wrong gate and unable to board the flight.
"When it was 11 o'clock, I came looking here. When I looked I said, 'Man, you're not getting on that plane anymore,'" he recalled, adding that he tried to persuade one of the gate agents to allow him inside the plane, but it didn't work.
"I said, 'Girl, put me on this plane, I have to go, I have to go,'" he said. "She said, 'No …What I can do for you is reschedule your flight.' So, she rescheduled it for 6:20 pm."
FlightRadar24 said on X (formerly Twitter) that there was an "active warning for severe icing" between 12,000 feet and 21,000 feet in the area where the plane crashed.
They noted that in its final minute, the plane's transponder recorded a vertical speed of between 8,000 and 24,000 feet per minute.
While it is too soon to draw conclusions, Lito Sousa, a Brazilian aviation expert, commented that icing may have been a factor in the crash.
“There is no accident or an air crash that is caused by a sole factor,” he said. “We need a chain of events for something bad to happen. So in that case, ice may have played a role."
On Friday, Brazilian President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, expressed condolences and asked for a minute of silence for the victims.
“We just have to mourn and care for the families, care for the people who are now going to be very nervous,” he told reporters at an event. “Lots of sadness in the air.”
The Brazilian Air Force said a team with the Aeronautical Accident Investigation and Prevention Center had been dispatched from São Paulo to carry out the investigation.
Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this heartbreaking tragedy.