‘How could this happen?’: Horrifying footage of a plane falling out of the sky reignites interest in 62-casualty crash

Viral footage on TikTok has reignited interest in a tragic plane crash in Brazil last month that unfortunately left all 62 passengers dead.  Clips of the tragedy were circulating on TikTok last month, capturing the heart-stopping moment when a passenger plane descended rapidly into a gated community in Sao Paulo.

While some are just learning of the incident online, the plane crash was reported by multiple outlets after it occurred on August 9. 

According to NPR, the domestic flight with airline Brazilian VOEPASS was traveling from Cascavel to Guarulhos when it crashed at around 1:30 pm local time in the town of Vinhedo. While the number of fatalities on the ground has not yet been confirmed, locals reported at the time that no one in the gated community was injured by the crash, which left a smoldering wreck on impact.

Following the crash, VOEPASS released a statement saying it was prioritizing “assistance to the victims’ families and effectively collaborating with authorities to determine the causes of the accident.” Later, at an event in southern Brazil, the country’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva asked the crowd to stand and observe a minute of silence as he shared the news. Later that evening, he declared three days of national mourning in response to the crash

The exact cause of the crash is still being investigated, but authorities recovered the full transcript from the plane’s ‘black box’ a few days after the tragedy. According to Reuters, the transcript from the cockpit indicates that both the pilot and copilot noticed the steep loss of altitude about one minute before the crash, with the copilot heard asking what was going on in the moments during its descent. 

Despite recovering the ‘black box’, authorities still haven’t confirmed exactly what caused the crash. The pilots did not report any adverse or emergency weather conditions before taking off. Videos of the crash were analyzed by aviation experts, who theorized that a build up of ice on the plane had contributed to the crash. Some experts noted the plane’s flat spin descent, meaning it spun in tight circles while remaining horizontal. 

After learning of the crash, users from around the world flocked to social media to share their shock and send condolences. “How could this happen?”, one user wrote in response to viral footage posted by Al Jazeera. Others remarked that the tragedy was “so sad and scary”, and described the incident as “heartbreaking.”  “Rest in peace to all the people who died,” another user wrote.