Brazil Police Accuse 16 in Crash That Killed 62

Brazil's federal police on Thursday formally accused 16 current and former employees of the airline Voepass over the 2024 crash that killed all 62 people aboard a flight bound for Sao Paulo.

Investigators named several acts of alleged malpractice, omission and negligence by the company. Among those formally accused is Voepass owner and president José Luiz Felicio Filho. Local prosecutors must still decide whether he and the others will be charged, at a date to be determined.

Fifteen former and present employees were accused of endangering air traffic safety resulting in a fatal disaster, an offense that carries up to 12 years in prison. Additional accusations against some in the group include omitting technical failures from aircraft logbooks.

The crash happened Aug. 9, 2024, when an ATR 72-500 twin-engine turboprop flying from Cascavel, in the southern state of Paraná, to Guarulhos international airport plummeted 13,000 feet into the backyard of a gated condominium in Vinhedo, outside Sao Paulo. Fifty-eight passengers and four crew members were killed.

Investigators said the aircraft's data recorders showed its de-icing system repeatedly failed or was manually cycled on and off during 136 flights. Federal police investigator André Ribeiro said the plane was irregularly cleared for departure into known severe icing conditions despite de-icing failures on three earlier flights the same day.

"This is a watershed in air crash disasters here," Ribeiro said. He also suggested prosecutors examine potential accusations against ANAC, Brazil's civil aviation agency.

Thalles Andrade, a lawyer for the victims' families, said in a statement that he would seek damages "against every one responsible, people and companies, including directors, companies involved in the operation and in ticket sales."

"We will go for everyone who, by action or omission, contributed to this," Andrade said.

The 16 people formally accused did not comment on the police action.

The findings were announced at a news conference after a two-year investigation. Police concluded that deliberate omissions, improper maintenance practices and organizational failures directly contributed to sending the aircraft into dangerous weather.

Last month, a Brazilian air force probe confirmed that severe icing, mechanical system failures and pilot distractions contributed to the country's deadliest air crash since 2007.