'It was an air crime', says relative of Voepass victim

"I've been talking since the first day (after the accident): they killed my daughter", said Fátima in a conversation with Estadão, this Thursday, 6. She was at the Federal Police Superintendence, in São Paulo, where the PF investigation report into the accident was presented.

The Federal Police indicted 16 people, most of them for the crime of violating air transport security. According to investigators, Voepass employees, including airline directors and captains, had a "culture" of not officially reporting failures in aircraft systems.

This included incidents involving the deicing system itself which, when it did not work properly during the fatal flight from Cascavel (PR) to Guarulhos (SP), contributed to the crash of the ATR.

"There, in that company, there was a modus operandi that made employees commit crimes", says Fátima. "They knew they were playing a trick, they knew they were circumventing inspections and putting people's lives at risk," says Fátima.

The feeling regarding the indictment, she says, is one of hope that justice will be done.

"So, this brings us, to all family members, hope that there will be justice for our family, but, above all, justice to serve as an example, so that this never happens again", says Ariane's mother.

The investigation will be analyzed by the Federal Public Ministry, which may request the arrest of those accused. Due to a precautionary measure, the 16 investigated are prevented from leaving the country.

Niece of one of the victims of the plane crash, lawyer Bianca Feller is also part of the association's team of defenders. She told Estadão that losing a family member in a "tragedy that could have been avoided" is "inexplicable".

"He could have been here. All of this could have been avoided if the company had been able to fly. It was a crime. It was not an accident. It was an air crime", he says.

She believes that the presentation of the investigation report in the week in which the accident turns two years old is symbolic and represents the closing of a cycle.

"We close one stage, but begin another that is even more important, which is the fight for justice. So that there is a complaint in accordance with the indictment, the criminal process and the conviction, so that they are punished in accordance with the law", he says.

For Adriana Ibba, mother of the youngest victim of the ATR crash - a 3-year-old girl who was traveling with her father from Paraná to São Paulo -, the evidence of crime presented by the police was surprising.

"I already knew there were a lot of things wrong, but not at this level. Because we're talking about pretending to do aircraft maintenance. That's impossible. It really surprised me," he said.

What Voepass says

"Voepass informs that operational safety has always been its priority. Over more than 30 years of operation in Brazilian aviation, the company has strictly adopted all safety, maintenance and crew training protocols provided for by the National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac).

The company reinforces that its operations have always been guided by the highest aviation safety standards, having, since 2012, the IOSA (IATA Operational Safety Audit) certification, granted by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to companies approved in a rigorous international operational safety audit.

Pilot training included procedures for dealing with icing conditions, including measures such as changes in altitude and speed, in accordance with the aircraft manufacturer's guidelines and applicable operational protocols. The crews were permanently instructed to strictly comply with these procedures, according to each operational scenario.

The crew of flight 2283 was made up of experienced professionals, duly qualified and certified, who had totaled more than 5 thousand flight hours, with technical training, certifications and medical evaluations regularly updated, without any prior registration that would compromise their fitness to perform the role.

Since the beginning of the investigations, Voepass has fully collaborated with the authorities, providing documents, logbooks, operational records and technical reports to the Aeronautical Accident Investigation and Prevention Center (Cenipa) and the Federal Police. The company understands that the Federal Police report is part of the investigative phase and will await the next procedural developments, and, if applicable, will fully exercise its right to defense, in accordance with current legislation.

Voepass reiterates its solidarity with the victims' families and reaffirms that it remains at the disposal of the authorities, competent institutions and other agents involved to provide all necessary clarifications."