… and the ‘mistake’ that saved 10 passengers who missed the flight
After initially saying there were no Portuguese victims among the plane crash that killed everyone on board in Brazil yesterday, Secretary of State for the Communities, José Cesário has confirmed that there was, in fact, a Portuguese woman among the victims.
She was 48-year-old Gracinda Castelo Silva, married to the municipal prosecutor of Toledo, in Paraná.
Gracinda Castelo Silva had dual nationality, reports SIC. She was traveling with Brazilian documents but had a Portuguese passport, and had been living in Brazil for several years.
According to pt.euronews.com, Gracinda was a lecturer at the Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná. She was travelling with her husband, and other people from the university.
Over the ‘X’ online social network, prime minister Luís Montenegro wrote: “At this moment of deep sorrow and consternation, I express, on behalf of myself, the Government and the Portuguese people, the most sincere condolences to the family of Mrs. Gracinda Castelo Silva, for the tragic death in the plane crash in São Paulo”.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also confirmed that it is “in contact with the family and deeply regrets the death of this Portuguese woman, as well as the other victims, conveying heartfelt condolences to all the relatives”.
President Marcelo and PM Montenegro have sent their condolences to President Lula da Silva, who has declared three days of national mourning.
The VOEPASS airline plane, a twin-engine ATR-72-500, was flying between Cascavel and São Paulo and crashed at around 13:25 local time (17:25 in Lisbon), in a residential area of the municipality of Vinhedo. It was within minutes of landing at its destination. The shocking picture of the plane literally spiralling down to earth was caught on a number of people’s mobile phones. It apparently fell to earth from 17,000 feet in little more than one minute: there was no communication from the plane to suggest the pilot was even aware of an emergency.
As the investigation into this tragedy continues, one theory is that adverse weather conditions may have caused engine failure and ‘icing’ (a build up of ice on the wings).
But with Brazil in deep shock, it has become clear that loss of life could have involved another 10 passengers – who missed the flight by mistake, at Cascavel, by going to the wrong boarding gate – and many more on the ground. It was quite honestly miraculous that loss of life was limited to the 58 passengers and four crew.
This is being described as Brazil’s worst plane crash since 2007, when a TAM Express plane crash and burst into flames at São Paulo’s Congonhas airport, killing 199.
