Brazil forms committee to oversee probe into plane crash that killed 62 | Aviation News

Panel expected to call on several key figures in bid to prevent repeat of deadly crash north of Sao Paulo.

Brazil’s Congress has announced the formation of a committee to oversee an investigation into a plane crash earlier this month that killed 62 people.

Lower House Speaker Arthur Lira authorised the installation of a 37-person committee last week, tasked with tracking an inquiry by Cenipa, a body that investigates aviation accidents.

The lower house is expected to decide who to summon to speak before the panel on Tuesday.

“Our intention is not to carry out a witch-hunt,” Congressman Nelsinho Padovani said. “We want to propose measures so it does not happen again.”

The tragic incident, in which an ATR 72-500 plane operated by the regional airline Voepass crashed in the town of Vinhedo about 80km (50 miles) north of Sao Paulo, is Brazil’s deadliest aviation accident in more than a decade.

Padovani told Reuters news agency that the committee is expected to summon figures such as Voepass President Jose Luiz Felicio Filho, Cenipa head Marcelo Moreno, and the head of Brazil’s civil aviation regulator ANAC, Tiago Sousa Pereira, to speak before the panel. Those invited to speak are not obligated to appear before the committee.

While Cenipa is expected to release preliminary findings of its investigation by September 6, the Congressional committee will hold hearings until December and expects to issue a report in February.

The circumstances that led to the August 9 crash remain uncertain, with videos of the aftermath showing burning debris from the plane scattered across the ground.

Some experts have suggested that the crash could have been a result of ice accumulating on the wings of the plane, causing the pilot to lose control.

Several such incidents have occurred when ATR planes gathered ice on their wings in the past.

“At the moment, there is no further comment we can add as the story develops,” a spokesperson for ATR said of the committee, adding that they “continue following the situation carefully”.

The plane was en route to Sao Paulo from the Cascavel airport in the southern state of Parana.