Brazilian authorities are investigating the cause of the fiery plane crash that killed 62

VINHEDO, Brazil (AP) — Brazilian authorities worked Saturday to piece together what exactly caused the plane crash in Sao Paulo state the previous day that killed all 62 people on board.

Local airline Voepass’ plane, an ATR 72 twin-engine turboprop, was headed for Sao Paulo’s international airport in Guarulhos with 58 passengers and 4 crew members, when it went down in the city of Vinhedo.

Initially, the company said its plane had 62 passengers, then it revised the number to 61 and early on Saturday it raised the figure once again after it found a passenger named Constantino Thé Maia was not on its original list.

Images recorded by witnesses showed the aircraft in a flat spin and plunging vertically before smashing to the ground inside a gated community, and leaving an obliterated fuselage consumed by fire. Residents said there were no injuries on the ground.

Rain drizzled down on rescue workers as they recovered the first bodies from the scene in the chill of the Southern Hemisphere’s winter. Some residents of the condominium silently left to spend the night elsewhere.

It was the world’s deadliest airline crash since January 2023, when 72 people died on board a Yeti Airlines...