By Gabriel Araujo
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazil’s decrease home of Congress was set on Tuesday to put in a committee to observe investigations into an plane crash in Sao Paulo state earlier this month, through which all 62 passengers and crew had been killed.
The ATR 72-500 airplane operated by regional service Voepass was sure for Sao Paulo’s Guarulhos worldwide airport from Cascavel, within the southern state of Parana, when it crashed in Vinhedo, some 80 km (50 miles) northwest of Sao Paulo, on Aug. 9.
Decrease Home Speaker Arthur Lira final week licensed the 37-person committee to be put in so lawmakers can maintain observe of the investigation, which is being carried out by aviation accident investigation middle Cenipa.
ATR is a 50-50 three way partnership between Airbus and Italy’s Leonardo.
The committee is predicted to vote on Tuesday on the primary invites for folks to talk earlier than the group, together with prime airline executives and investigators, stated Congressman Nelsinho Padovani, a number one member of the committee.
Amongst these the lawmakers plan to listen to are Voepass President Jose Luiz Felicio Filho, Cenipa head Marcelo Moreno, and the pinnacle of Brazil’s civil aviation regulator ANAC, Tiago Sousa Pereira, Padovani advised Reuters.
“Our intention is not to carry out a witch hunt,” stated Padovani, who will probably be accountable for writing the ultimate report with the committee’s conclusions. “We want to propose measures so it does not happen again.”
A spokesperson for ATR stated: “At the moment, there is no further comment we can add as the story develops. We continue following the situation carefully and our teams are on location with French … teams to support the Brazilian investigation.”
The group can be anticipated to ask the chief govt of LATAM Airways (NYSE:), Roberto Alvo, to attend a listening to. The native unit of Chile-based LATAM is Brazil’s No.1 airline and has a codeshare cope with Voepass.
LATAM and Voepass didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark. As per decrease home guidelines, these invited are usually not obliged to seem earlier than the committee.
Padovani’s preliminary expectation is for hearings to final till December and the report back to be concluded by February. Cenipa will launch its personal preliminary report concerning the crash on Sept. 6.
Some specialists have cited ice on the wings as a doable contributor to the crash, as warning notices had been issued that day for extreme icing within the area.
There have been a number of instances the place pilots misplaced management of an ATR airplane following experiences of the formation of ice on the plane.
The lawmakers additionally plan to go to Voepass’ upkeep hub in Ribeirao Preto, Sao Paulo state, stated Padovani.
