SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s federal police on Thursday formally accused 16 current and former employees of airline Voepass for the 2024 crash that killed all 62 people on board the plane. Investigators named several acts of alleged malpractice, omission and negligence by the company.Voepass owner and president José Luiz Felicio Filho was among those formally accused in the crash that took place in the city of Vinhedo, outside Sao Paulo. Local prosecutors must still decide whether he and the other accused will be charged at a date to be determined.Brazil’s federal police also accused 15 former and present Voepass employees of endangering air traffic safety resulting in a fatal disaster, which could put them in prison for up to 12 years. Additional charges against some of the group include the omission of technical failures from aircraft logbooks.
The crash happened Aug. 9, 2024, when an ATR 72-500 twin-engine turboprop en route from Cascavel, in the southern state of Paraná, to Guarulhos international airport plummeted 13,000 feet into the backyard of a gated condominium, killing 58 passengers and four crew members.Investigators added that the aircraft’s data recorders showed its de-icing system repeatedly failed or was manually cycled on and off during 136 flights.
