Pilot verbal report about failure of de-icing system in the Voepass ATR aircraft was not recorded in the logbook hours before the crash.

• An exclusive report published on the g1 portal features an interview with a former Voepass employee with details about the plane crash that occurred nearly a year ago, resulting in the death of 62 people in Vinhedo (SP).
• The aircraft, registration PS-VPB, crashed while en route from Cascavel, Paraná, to Guarulhos International Airport, in São Paulo.
• According to the former Voepass employee, a pilot who used the ATR 72-500 aircraft in the early morning before the disaster verbally informed the maintenance team that the aircraft's de-icing system was malfunctioning.
• However, de-icing system was malfunction information was not recorded in the technical logbook (TLB), the document that records mechanical issues.
• Without a formal record, the hangar leadership ignored the problem and cleared the aircraft for the fatal flight.
• The former employee highlighted in the interview the internal pressure to prevent aircraft from being grounded for maintenance, which resulted in reduced teams and delayed maintenance, often using the deferred corrective action (ACR) procedure to postpone repairs, even with known issues.

A former Voepass employee revealed in an interview with the G1 portal that hours before the tragedy, the pilot who flew the aircraft the night before reported (verbally) experiencing problems with the plane's de-icing system.

According to the ex-Voepass employee, who witnessed the last maintenance on the ATR 72-500, the failure, which would have been enough to prevent the plane from being used the following morning, was omitted from the technical logbook (TLB).

"This aircraft had never experienced this type of failure, right? But on the day of the accident, when the aircraft arrived from Guarulhos to Ribeirão, it was verbally reported by the captain who brought it in. It was alleged that it had experienced an airframe fault (a warning issued when there's a de-icing problem) during the flight. And it was disarming itself. He activated the system and it disarmed. Something that shouldn't happen," the witness told G1.

A Turboprop aircraft with 58 passengers and four crew members, totaling 62 people on board, crashed into a condominium in the Capela neighborhood, in Vinhedo (SP), early in the afternoon of  09 August 2024 while operating flight 2283.

According to the preliminary investigation report, the plane had problems with the de-icing system, which would have worked intermittently, turning on and off several times before the crash.

Also, documents from the National Civil Aviation Agency highlighted issues in the maintenance procedures of the aircraft fleet of Voepass, the fourth largest airline in the Brazil.

During the investigation process, a defect was identified in the navigation panel , which may have increased the complexity for the pilots to control the aircraft, especially in adverse flight conditions.

• As per the Preliminary report, the aircraft's de-icing system, which prevents ice from accumulating on external surfaces, malfunctioned during the flight.
• The system turned on and off several times, which may have compromised flight safety, the report said.
• The Cenipa report revealed that the Electronic Horizontal Situation Indicator (EHSI), a part of the navigation panel that helps integrate and visualize data from GPS, radar and other flight instruments, had a defect pending repair.

The ATR-72 Turboprop has a history of pilots losing control of the aircraft due to icing, including a 2016 incident in Norway in which the pilot regained control of the aircraft after stalling. In 2010, icing and pilot error caused Aero Caribbean Flight 883 to crash, killing 68 people in Cuba.

The National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) decided to revoke the Air Operator's Certificate of Passaredo Transportes Aéreos, the main company of the Voepass group.

The decision came after the regulatory agency identified "serious and persistent flaws in the company's Continuous Analysis and Supervision System (SASC)."

The decision, which included the imposition of financial penalties totaling R$570,400, is no longer subject to appeal, according to ANAC.

Even so, according to Anac, after the accident last August, Voepass operated 2,687 flights with aircraft that were not properly maintained and were not in a condition to fly.

"During the course of the assisted operation, ANAC found failures in the execution of mandatory maintenance inspection items, which were neither detected nor corrected by the company's internal controls, an indication that the company's supervision system had degraded, compromising its ability to act preventively," says ANAC.

The Brazilian Federal Police are responsible for preparing an Aeronautical Accident Report , which will provide technical details on the factors that contributed to the accident.

This report will be compared with witness statements and evidence analysis to determine whether there was negligence or incompetence on the part of the crew, Voepass or other entities involved.

The crash of the Voepass ATR-72 is among the worst air tragedies in Brazil in recent years, and the outcome of the investigation will be crucial in determining whether there were systemic failures that could prevent similar accidents in the future.

Related news......