Eight cancer doctors were among the 62 passengers and crew killed when a Brazilian passenger plane plunged from the sky at high speed and exploded in a fireball.
Six leading oncologists and two resident physicians in their final year of training were traveling from their hometown of Cascavel to a cancer conference in Sao Paulo when the VoePass Airline ATR 72-500 twin-engine turboprop plane crashed into a gated community on Friday, killing all on board.
Eduardo Baptistella of the Regional Medical Council said: ‘Unfortunately, we received very sad news and we were able to confirm the death of eight doctors. The doctors went to an oncology conference. These were people who dedicated their lives to saving others.’
Last night the names of several doctors emerged, including radiologist Leonel Ferreira, pediatric cancer expert Sarah Stella and Silvia Osaki.
According to Mr Baptistella, 15 doctors were scheduled to take the two-hour flight, but seven had taken an earlier plane.
This photo shows an aerial view of the wreckage of a plane that crashed with 61 people on board on August 10, 2024 in Vinhedo, Sao Paulo state, Brazil.
Six leading oncologists and two resident physicians, in their final year of training, were traveling from their hometown of Cascavel to a cancer conference in Sao Paulo when the plane crashed
The plane can be seen in a ‘death spiral’ before it crashed into a residential area on Friday
A spokesman for the Uopeccan Cancer Hospital in Cascavel confirmed that two final-year oncology doctors, Arianne Risso, 28, and Mariana Belim, 29, had died. He added: ‘It is with great pain that we have to confirm the death of the clinical oncology doctors in training.
“There are no words to describe the sorrow we feel as we have experienced this great tragedy.”
VoePass Flight 2283 crashed 50 miles (80 kilometers) northwest of Sao Paulo, en route to the city’s Guarulhos International Airport.
The plane was at an altitude of 16,000 feet when it entered a “death spiral” and plummeted to the ground within fifty seconds.
Eyewitnesses who filmed the crash said the plane appeared to be stationary before hitting the ground and bursting into flames at around 1.30pm local time (5.30pm BST).
Last night, the airline confirmed that ten people who were waiting at the wrong gate in Cascavel miraculously missed their flight.
The plane was en route from Cascavel to Guarulhos at an altitude of 17,000 feet when it suddenly began to descend
Pictured: The wreckage of the Voepass Airlines plane that crashed in Brazil
Debris can be seen as emergency workers work at the scene of a plane crash on Friday
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
Captain Danilo Santos Romano was named today as the first victim of the horrific crash in the town of Vinhedo
Mr. Romano worked as a pilot for more than ten years and joined Voepass Airlines in 2022, according to his LinkedIn profile
One man, who did not want to give his name, told CNN: ‘The monitor showed the wrong gate and there were 10 of us sitting there and we realized we were in the wrong place.
‘We ran to the right gate and I asked one of the agents, “Girl, put me on this plane, I have to go, I have to go,” but she said, “No, you’re late and I can only rebook your flight.”
Friends of the pilot Danilo Romano, 35, who had ten years of flying experience, described him as “a great professional” who was “always cheerful and willing to help”.
Although the pilot did not signal distress, aviation experts say sudden ice formation may have occurred on the wings.
The plane’s black box was recovered in good condition.