Top aviation expert reveals most likely cause of ‘death spiral’ that brought down Brazil passenger jet and killed 62 people

A leading aviation expert has revealed the most likely causes that sent a Brazilian passenger plane into a “death spiral” in a horrific crash today.

Dramatic video of the event on Friday showed a Voepass Airlines plane falling from the sky and landing behind a grove of trees near homes, followed by a large plume of black smoke, killing all 62 people on board.

Captain Ross Aimer, who has more than 40 years of experience flying passenger planes in the US, told DailyMail.com that the tragic plane may have suffered engine failure, a flight control malfunction or a critical part of the plane, such as a wing section, falling off.

And once you get into the downward spiral, “it’s very hard to get out,” he said.

The plane was en route from Cascavel to Guarulhos when it suddenly began to descend.

According to Aimer, the most likely cause of the crash was that the plane was in a low-speed stall, where the airflow over the wings is too slow to provide sufficient lift.

This happens when aircraft are moving too slowly. The three reasons for this are a technical failure, extreme turbulence, pilot error or something hitting the wing, such as a bird.

The infamous crash of US Airways Flight 1549 occurred in the Hudson River after a flock of birds struck the plane’s wing, knocking out all power, shortly after takeoff at about 700 feet.

The ATR-72 plane that crashed in Vinhedo, Brazil, was flying at an altitude of 17,000 feet, the airline said.

At that altitude it is unlikely to be a bird, leaving only two other possible scenarios.

After the plane likely came to a standstill, video footage showed it spinning in circles as it crashed back to Earth.

This is known as a death spiral or graveyard spider.

When the wing stalls and drops, and there is no power because the engine has failed, the aircraft can enter a spiral, with one wing generating lift as the aircraft circles the other wing and heads into the ground.

It is not the first time that an ATR aircraft has been involved in a fatal crash.

In 1994, an ATR-72 crashed in the Atlas Mountains while climbing to 16,000 feet on a domestic flight in Morocco from Agadir to Casablanca. It was a suicide of the pilot and everyone on board died.

More recently, an ATR-42 crashed in 2017 after flying into severe icing conditions and losing control in Canada. All but one passenger survived.

Despite these incidents, Aimer told DailyMail.com that the ATR-72 is a relatively safe aircraft.

Dramatic video from the scene on Friday showed a Voepass plane falling from the sky as it crashed behind a grove of trees near homes, followed by a large plume of black smoke

The plane was en route from Cascavel to Guarulhos at an altitude of 17,000 feet when it suddenly began to descend

Captain Ross Aimer, who has more than 40 years of experience, told DailyMail.com that the tragic plane could have suffered engine failure, a flight control failure or if a critical part of the plane – such as a wing section – fell off.

And these planes are not often used for commercial flights in the United States, he said.

In the US, “we are fortunate that we have good training and a good safety record,” Aimer said.

“But we must never let our guard down. We must do much better in terms of technology, safety training and experience.”

The Brazilian Air Force said it has sent an investigation team to the site.

Speaking in southern Brazil on Friday afternoon, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called for a moment of silence for the victims of the crash.