The plane crashed into a gated community
The black box recording from the Brazilian flight that crashed last week, killing all 62 on board, has been recovered, revealing the last words of the co-pilot.
The jet came down near Sao Paulo, southern Brazil resulting in a huge fireball that could be seen several miles away.
Footage of the incident appeared to show the plane stall in the air before it fell to the ground.
The plane had taken off from Cascavel and was travelling towards Sao Paulo when it crashed into a residential area. No one on the ground was injured.
Brazilian network TV Globo reported that air crash investigators had obtained the black box, which is a flight recorder that helps investigators piece together aviation accidents, but that the cause of the crash was not yet clear.
The channel claimed to have obtained a transcript of the black box recording, which amounted to about two hours of audio but it did not release the transcript in full.
They did, however, share what is believed to be the co-pilot’s final words. The co-pilot asked the pilot what was happening before saying the plane needed ‘more power’.
The pilots realised the plane made a significant drop in altitude moments before the aircraft crashed and said that screams could be heard shortly before impact.
Sky News reports that investigators did not hear anything unusual in the audio that would suggest a fire or engine breakdown.
However, Brazil’s aircraft investigation centre, Cenipa claimed no publication had access to the black box audio or transcript.
In a statement following the incident, airline Voepass Linhas Aereas said: “The company regrets to inform all 61 people on board flight 2283 died at the site. At this time, VOEPASS is prioritizing provision of unrestricted assistance to the victims’ families and effectively collaborating with authorities to determine the causes of the accident.”
An eyewitness previously told reporters they feared the plane was ‘going to fall in our yard’ and added: “Thank God there were no victims among the locals.”