Brazilian investigators on Saturday began analyzing the black boxes from a São Paulo-bound flight to try to understand why the passenger plane fell from 17,000 feet on Friday, in a crash that killed all 62 on board. But to aviation experts around the world who watched the videos showing the 89-foot plane spinning slowly as it plummeted before crashing almost directly on its belly, the question of what had happened was simple to answer: The plane had stalled. In other words, the plane’s wings had lost the lift needed to keep the aircraft aloft, causing it to stop flying and start falling. “You can’t get into a spin without stalling,” said John Cox, an airline pilot for 25 years who now aids plane crash investigations. “It’s A plus B equals C.” The question of why VoePass Flight 2283 might have stalled, however, remained a mystery. Did it lose significant speed? Did its nose pitch up too high? Did ice build up on its wings? Did an engine fail? Was its stall-warning system working? Were the two pilots tired or distracted? “The main thing we know is that it’s never one thing,” said Thomas Anthony, director of the aviation safety program at the University of Southern California. The plane was carrying 58 passengers and four crew members on the nearly two-hour scheduled flight from Cascavel, Brazil, to São Paulo on Friday when it crashed in a gated community in the small city of Vinhedo, shortly before reaching its destination. No one on the ground was injured. Crash investigators in Brazil said on Saturday that they had recovered the plane’s two black boxes — one containing flight data and the other recordings from the cockpit — and were working to extract information from them. “There is still no estimated completion date for this work,” Marcelo Moreno, Brazil’s chief crash investigator, said. “We are prioritizing quality over speed.” The leading crash theory so far is that the plane may have stalled partly because of severe icing, meaning ice formed on its wings or on other parts of the plane, reducing its aerodynamic abilities and increasing its weight. With such icing, a plane has to travel at faster speeds to avoid stalling, experts said.<br/>
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An ATR-72 turboprop plane operated by regional carrier Voepass crashed on Friday in a residential area near Sao Paulo, Brazil, killing all 62 passengers aboard. Investigators have recovered the plane's so-called black box containing voice recordings and flight data, with a preliminary report expected within 30 days, the head of Brazil's aviation accident investigation center, Cenipa, said on Sunday. The plane was bound for Sao Paulo from Cascavel, in the state of Parana, and crashed at around 1:30 p.m. (1630 GMT) in Vinhedo, some 80 km (50 miles) northwest of Sao Paulo. The aircraft was flying normally until 1:21 p.m., when it stopped responding to calls, and radar contact was lost at 1:22 p.m., Brazil's air force said in a statement. The plane did not report any emergency. Videos of the event show that the sky was apparently clear when the plane started spiraling in an unusual circling motion. U.S. aviation safety expert Anthony Brickhouse said investigators would look at aspects like weather and examine to what extent the engines and controls were functioning properly, to help identify what caused the loss of control. Videos of the crash analyzed by aviation experts led some to speculate that ice had built up on the plane. On Friday, Voepass said ice was predicted at the altitudes in which the plane was flying, but that it should have been within an acceptable level. Brazilian aviation engineer and crash investigator Celso Faria de Souza said he is almost certain ice caused the accident, judging from the video. ATR-72 planes have experienced issues with icing, with a crash in 1994 in the U.S. state of Indiana killing 68, after the plane was unable to bank due to ice buildup. After that incident, manufacturer ATR improved its de-icing system. In 2016 in Norway an ATR-72 experienced issues after ice accumulated on the plane, but the pilot was able to regain control.<br/>
Lufthansa's leisure subsidiary Discover Airlines has agreed to increase wages for cockpit and cabin staff, marking its first collective bargaining agreement since it began operating in 2021, the company and union said on Friday. The agreement covers 500 cockpit workers and 1,400 members of the cabin crew and is valid until the end of 2027, both sides said. The Verdi union negotiating on behalf of staff said the deal with Discover Airlines would lead to wage increases of up to 38% for cabin staff and at least 16% for pilots. Discover hailed the agreement, with its term of over three years, as a boost to passengers' planning security, after repeated strikes at various airlines hit the travel sector in recent years. Discover Airlines CEO Bernd Bauer said the agreement was an important milestone for the young airline but warned of downsides to the deal. "We must not ignore the fact that the agreement is also accompanied by significant cost burdens and restrictions on our planning flexibility," Bauer said in a statement. The deal with Verdi also doesn't rule out the threat of future strikes, as competing unions protest the outcome and demand their own collective bargaining agreements. Strikes at Lufthansa and its subsidiaries, including indirect effects such as customers avoiding the airline, have cost the group almost half a billion in earnings, according to the company.<br/>
A Jet2 plane hit a bird and had to land back at Leeds Bradford Airport shortly after it had taken off last night. The aircraft, which had 135 passengers and a crew of five staff, was due to fly to Palma De Majorca, but never left England. Flightradar24 shows the aircraft taking off at 16:29 BST, flying above Manchester before turning around and landing back at LBA at 17:48 BST. A spokesperson for Jet2 apologised but said customers were transferred onto a different plane. "We can confirm that flight LS227 returned to Leeds Bradford Airport on Saturday 10 August as a precautionary measure," the spokesperson said. "The aircraft landed safely and customers were transferred onto a replacement aircraft to continue their journey. "We do of course apologise for the delay to the start of their holidays." West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service declared a "full emergency" while the plane was in-flight.<br/>
T'way Air's flight bound for Incheon from Singapore has been delayed due to a safety inspection issue involving its aircraft, the Korean budget airline said Sunday. T'way's flight TW172 took off from Singapore's Changi Airport for Korea's Incheon International Airport at 2:15 a.m. (local time) with 285 passengers aboard, but returned to the point of departure 55 minutes later due to the aircraft's safety issues, according to company officials. Following a check, T'way determined the aircraft, an Airbus A330-300, is unfit for immediate aviation and sent a different aircraft from Korea to Changi Airport as a replacement. The replacement flight is set to take off from Changi Airport at around 11 p.m., resulting in a delay of about 21 hours. T'way said it offered TW172 passengers a stay at a hotel near Changi Airport and plans to give out additional compensation for the incident. "We are sorry to cause a big inconvenience due to an unexpected safety check," an official at the airline said.<br/>
Philippine Airlines will implement “a disciplined investment plan” in the near term, as it reported a steep decline in second-quarter profitability amid yield “pressures” and an rise in operating costs. The Manila-based carrier’s operating profit for the three months ended 30 June stood at $64m, down 64% year on year. Revenue for the quarter was down 4% to $787m, “reflecting yield pressures brought about by the return of more capacity to the market”, says PAL. The airline notes that its operating profit for the quarter was also “negatively impacted” by higher costs related to flying and maintenance activities. Adds airline chief Stanley Ng: “As the industry adjusts to a re-balancing between demand and capacity, and continues to face cost and supply chain challenges, we are implementing a disciplined investment plan to upgrade our fleet and continue our digital transformation so that we can serve our passengers better.” PAL adds that the decline in profitability was “in line with expectations…amid a normalising market environment versus the travel demand surges of 2023”. <br/>
Cebu Pacific sees challenges relating to the Pratt & Whitney PW1100G easing and is confident in the long-term outlook for the troubled powerplant. Asked on earnings call about the decision to stick with the P&W engine in its recent commitment for up to 152 A320neos, chief financial officer Mark Cezar says the carrier is optimistic about the PW1100G’s long-term future, although it did look at the competing CFM International LEAP-1A. “We had a long, good look at the LEAP engine, and ultimately I think this is a decision that we will have to wear for a really long time, well into the 2040s based on our pattern of usage, of using aircraft for 10-12 years,” says Cezar. “These are aircraft and engines that will stay in our fleet well into the 2040s, so we had to make a decision on what we think reasonably will happen, and which one will be the better engine in the longer term.” The company opted to stay with P&W despite years of challenges with the PW1100G in its existing fleet: as recently as November 2023, the carrier expected to have up to 20 A320neo family jets grounded throughout the year, placing significant constraints on its ability to boost capacity. Cebu’s fleet composition underlines its exposure to the troubled powerplant. As of end June, 44 of Cebu’s 87 aircraft were PW1100G-powered A320neos. It also operates 26 A320s and 17 ATRs. The year 2024, however, has proven somewhat better than expected, with 10-15 aircraft on the ground, as opposed the 20 anticipated. This has helped the airline boost capacity.<br/>