Plane's 'Black Box' Captured Screams Before It Fell Out of the Sky in Brazil, Killing 62: Report
The pilots were aware the twin-engine ATR 72 needed “more power,” but it's unclear why, according to Brazilian news media
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The "black box" recovered from Voepass 2283 has so far yielded few details as to why the turboprop spiraled out of the sky last week and crashed into the ground, killing everyone onboard, according to the Brazilian news media.
But a transcript based on the flight's recorder, obtained by TV Globo, reveals that the pilots aboard Flight 2283 — which went down in a flat spin at about 1:30 p.m. local time on Friday, Aug. 9, in the town of Vinhedo, about 50 miles northwest of São Paulo — were aware the twin-engine ATR 72 needed “more power” in the moments before it fell from the air, a terrifying incident that was partially captured on video.
In the unreleased transcript, which was described as having about two hours of audio, the co-pilot is heard asking the pilot about what was going on with the plane as it began to lose altitude before it plummeted about 17,000 feet per minute into a gated residential area.
The fall took about a minute and screams could be heard on the audio from the recorder, according to the new report.
The 62 passengers and crew aboard all died, according to news reports. (Initial details from Voepass conflicted on the exact death toll.) No one on the ground was hurt.
Sources close to the investigation told TV Globo that audio analysis was unlikely to determine the cause of the crash and that noise from the plane’s engines made it difficult to hear portions of what was said.
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In widely seen video circulating on social media, the plane was recorded falling from the sky, spinning seemingly uncontrollably before it slammed into the ground.
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Experts told CNN that ice on the aircraft’s wings may have been a factor in the crash.
The plane, which originated in Cascavel, near the Paraguay border, flew through an area where “severe icing” was forecast between 12,000 and 21,000 feet.
Related: Booking Mix-Up Stopped More Deaths in Brazilian Plane Crash That Killed 61, Say Would-Be Passengers
“All the preliminary signals point toward an icing event,” a former managing director of the National Transportation Safety Board, Peter Goelz, told the outlet.
Outside experts who spoke with The New York Times said the craft appeared to have stalled, though the exact reason for that — a buildup of ice on the wings, for example — isn't yet clear.
"You can’t get into a spin without stalling," pilot John Cox said.
The lead investigator into the incident told the Times last week: “There is still no estimated completion date for this work. We are prioritizing quality over speed.”
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