Voepass flight, pilots reported anti-icing system failure

(ANSA) – SAO PAULO, 06 SEPTEMBER – The Brazilian Center for the Investigation and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents (Cenipa) has published a preliminary report on the accident, on August 9, of the Voepass flight, which took off from Cascavel in the state of Paraná and crashed in Vinhedo, in the state of São Paulo, 90 km from the Guarulhos airport where it was supposed to land. According to the report, the black boxes recorded the audio of the pilot Danilo Santos Romano reporting a failure in the aircraft’s de-icing system. The crash killed 62 people. The report does not aim to indicate the culprits, but rather the “factors that may have contributed” to the tragedy, according to Cenipa, which depends on the Brazilian Air Force. In a press conference, Brigadier Marcelo Moreno, head of Cenipa, also stated that the flight data recorded by the black box did not confirm the same information. The preliminary report still shows that the anti-icing system was turned on and off several times during the flight, but it is not yet known whether this was done manually or whether it was caused by a technical problem. On the day of the accident, weather forecasts had warned of heavy icing at high altitude (ANSA).