Plane's 'Black Box' Captured Screams Before It Fell Out of the Sky in Brazil, Killing 62: Report

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo:MIGUEL SCHINCARIOL/AFP via Getty

MIGUEL SCHINCARIOL/AFP via Getty

The “black box” recovered from Voepass 2283 has so far yielded few details as to why the turboprop spiraled out of the sky last week and crashed into the ground, killing everyone onboard,according to the Brazilian news media.

In the unreleased transcript, which was described as having about two hours of audio, the co-pilot is heard asking the pilot about what was going on with the plane as it began to lose altitude before it plummeted about 17,000 feet per minute into a gated residential area.

The fall took about a minute and screams could be heard on the audio from the recorder, according to the new report.

The 62 passengers and crew aboard all died, according to news reports. (Initial details from Voepass conflicted on the exact death toll.) No one on the ground was hurt.

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

In widely seen video circulating on social media, the plane was recorded falling from the sky, spinning seemingly uncontrollably before it slammed into the ground.

NELSON ALMEIDA/AFP via Getty

Experts told CNNthat ice on the aircraft’s wings may have been a factor in the crash.

The plane, which originated in Cascavel, near the Paraguay border, flew through an area where “severe icing” was forecast between 12,000 and 21,000 feet.

“All the preliminary signals point toward an icing event,” a former managing director of the National Transportation Safety Board, Peter Goelz, told the outlet.

Outside experts whospoke withThe New York Timessaid the craft appeared to have stalled, though the exact reason for that — a buildup of ice on the wings, for example — isn’t yet clear.

“You can’t get into a spin without stalling,” pilot John Cox said.

The lead investigator into the incident told theTimeslast week: “There is still no estimated completion date for this work. We are prioritizing quality over speed.”

source: people.com