Bodies of 62 victims found in Sao Paulo

The bodies of all 62 victims of a plane crash in Brazil in which a plane crashed into a residential area have been recovered, government officials said on Sunday.

Investigators ended their search for victims at the crash site outside São Paulo on Saturday night, according to the state government in São Paulo, located in southeastern Brazil. The cause of Friday’s crash is still unknown.

Dozens of victims’ families arrived at a medical facility on Sunday to help identify their loved ones.

The remains of all 62 victims — 34 men and 28 women — were taken to the central police medical center after rescuers completed their rescue operation at 10:45 p.m. Saturday, about 33 hours after the crash, the São Paulo state government said in a statement Sunday. At least 31 bodies had been recovered by Saturday afternoon.

In earlier announcements, authorities said there were 61 people on board the plane, operated by Brazilian airline Voepass. The number of passengers was later updated to 62.

The plane was flying from Cascavel, a city along Brazil’s southern border, to Guarulhos Airport in São Paulo. The plane’s pilots did not report any malfunctions or adverse weather conditions, the Brazilian air force said in a statement. The plane flew normally Friday until 1:21 p.m., when it stopped responding to calls and radar contact was lost at 1:22 p.m., the agency said. The crash occurred shortly afterward, at 1:30 p.m.

State authorities said that in São Paulo, a group of about 40 doctors, dentists and other forensic experts “continue to provide uninterrupted and exclusive care to the victims of the plane crash.”

Who was on board the plane that crashed in Brazil?

The pilot and co-pilot of the Voepass airline plane were identified by local authorities as Danilo Santos Romano and Humberto de Campos Alencar e Silva, the Associated Press reported.

At least eight doctors were on board, according to Gov. Ratinho Júnior of nearby Paraná state, home to the famous Iguaçu Falls. Four university professors from Unioeste University in the western part of the state were also confirmed dead, according to the AP.

A 3-year-old girl named Liz Ibba dos Santos was the only child on the passenger list, the AP reported. The girl was traveling with her father. Another family was traveling with a dog, whose remains were also found in the wreckage, the AP reported.

What caused the plane crash in Brazil?

Authorities did not say what caused the accident, in which the twin-engine ATR 72 turboprop plane spiraled and crashed into a housing estate in Vinhedo, northwest of São Paulo.

Authorities in the town of Valinhos, near Vinhedo, said one home in a local apartment complex was damaged but no residents were injured.

Voepass Chief Operating Officer Marcel Moura told a news conference on Friday that ice was expected at the altitudes at which the plane was flying, but “within an acceptable range.”

“But the aircraft is sensitive to ice, that could be a starting point,” Moura said, noting that the plane’s de-icing system, like the rest of the aircraft, was found to be in working order before takeoff.

Jaafar El-Awady, a professor of mechanical engineering at Johns Hopkins University, told USA TODAY that he was amazed by videos showing the plane falling from the sky.

“It’s not like it was going down. It looks more like a stone is falling from the sky,” El-Awady said, pointing out that the plane was stuck in the air.

According to the Aviation Safety Network, the three deadliest air disasters in South America all occurred in Brazil.

Contributors: Mike Snider, Eduardo Cuevas, Jonathan Limehouse, Minnah Arshad, Will Carless, USA TODAY