Brazilian airline Voepass suspends some flights after fatal crash

By Gabriel Araujo

SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazilian airline Voepass has decided to limit its service at nine locations after one of its planes crashed in São Paulo state earlier this month, killing 62 people.

Regional carrier Voepass, Brazil's fourth-largest airline by market share, said in a statement sent to Reuters that the move was “necessary” as it now has one less aircraft in its ATR turboprop fleet.

Voepass said the measure was aimed at “minimising potential delays and flight cancellations”. Daily flights to nine destinations will be suspended until at least October 26, when Voepass will reassess its network as part of planning for the next season, it said.

In total, Voepass has served 47 destinations so far.

The company, which has a codeshare agreement with Brazil's largest airline LATAM, operated the ATR 72-600 that crashed in a residential area near Sao Paulo on August 9, killing all 62 passengers on board.

The plane was en route from Cascavel in the southern state of Paraná to Guarulhos International Airport in São Paulo when it crashed in Vinhedo, about 80 kilometers northwest of São Paulo.

Cascavel is one of the cities, along with Sao Jose do Rio Preto and Rio Verde, where daily air traffic will be suspended starting September 2. Operations in the northeastern cities of Salvador, Natal and Mossoro will cease on August 26, Voepass said.

Flights to and from Fortaleza, Belo Horizonte and Porto Seguro were already suspended at the beginning of the month.

The Brazilian Civil Aviation Authority (ANAC) said last week that it would intensify its monitoring of Voepass following the crash to ensure that operations were maintained “under appropriate conditions”.

Some experts have suggested icing as a possible cause of the crash, as severe icing advisories were issued in the region that day. There have been several cases of pilots losing control of an ATR after receiving reports of ice formation on the aircraft.

According to data from FlightAware, of the 190 ATR 72 flights operated domestically in Brazil on August 9, only two were cancelled, both by operator Voepass.

At least 13 different ATR aircraft took off or landed in the accident area.

(Reporting by Gabriel Araujo and Luciana Magalhaes in Sao Paulo, Allison Lampert in Montreal; editing by Aurora Ellis)