Black box recording reveals pilots discovered plane fault just minutes before crash which killed all 62 people on board
Topics: News, World News, Travel
Kit Roberts
Featured Image Credit: NBC News
Topics: News, World News, Travel
A black box recording has provided insight into the final moments of a flight before it crashed in Brazil.
The turboprop place had been travelling to São Paulo when it stopped responding to calls.
When it was around 50 miles from São Paulo, the plane made a sharp turn and descended rapidly, according to data from flight tracking site Flight Radar.
It crashed in Vinhedo at around 1.30pm on August 9, and had reportedly been flying normally until just nine minutes earlier at 1.21pm.
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Now, information from the plane's black box has been recovered which reveals the final moments in the cockpit before the crash.
A preliminary report has also been published providing some initial insight into what may have caused the crash.
Three experts have also been interviewed by Reuters, and have suggested one factor which could have impacted on the aircraft, though they stressed that the report is still only preliminary.
They suggested that one thing which may have played a part is icing, which is when ice forms on the wings and control surfaces.
This can have a serious impact on the pilots' ability to control the aircraft as the flaps can't be properly manoeuvred.
Lieutenant colonel Pablo Fróes remarked on the comments from crew, which indicate they became aware of a fault on board.
He said: "The crew members are commenting on failures in the [de-icing] system.
"The first time, during the climb, we had the commander, the pilot in command, commenting via the CDR (communication system), that there was a failure in the airframe system."
He added: "What we know is that the airplane was flying in an area with severe icing conditions."
Nonetheless Carlos Baldin, the head of the Center for Research and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents investigation division, pointed out that 'there are still many doubts'.
He added: "This accident shouldn't have happened, not in the conditions in which the plane was flying and was being operated. It had protection equipment."
A video of the plane shortly before its crash circulated on social media, which showed the aircraft veering out of control.
It then plummeted down into a cluster of trees, after which a plume of smoke rose up as it made impact.
Another clip showed the aftermath of the crash with burning debris strewn a residential area.
Despite crashing into a residential area, no one on the ground was injured in the crash.
Data from the website Flight Radar suggests that the plane had been at 17,000ft before dropping 4,000ft in two minutes.