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61 people are dead after a passenger plane violently crashed in Brazil yesterday, killing everyone onboard.
Flight 2283, operated by regional airline Voepass, took off from the Brazilian town of Cascavel, located in the state of Paraná, and was heading towards São Paulo's Guarulhos Airport at an altitude of around 17,000 feet when it suddenly dropped around 250 feet. Then, it recovered around 400 feet, and soon plummeted to the ground in under a minute. Dramatic videos of the incident were soon flooding social media and other platforms like YouTube, with some showing the airplane slowly spinning wildly in the air as it went down and others showing the fiery wreckage strewn all over a residential area after the crash. Unfortunately, all 61 people onboard were killed, 57 passengers and 4 crew. The previous death toll was estimated at 62, but they soon discovered that there were 57 passengers, not 58.
According to one neighbor on the street, the plane came down on a house that belongs to an elderly couple, but they were uninjured. As the flight came down, the sound sent residents running for cover, while others sheltered in place. Thankfully, no one on the ground was injured, but they were very shaken up.
The aircraft was an ATR 72, which is powered by two propellors, one mounted on each wing. According to CNN, the plane has a history of problems, as at least 15 fatal accidents have occurred since it was first released by ATR, but turboprop planes are known to be more dangerous than jet-powered aircraft.
10 other extremely lucky people missed that flight that day-- they had been waiting at the wrong gate and rushed to catch the Voepass flight to São Paulo just before pushback. Despite their pleads to board the plane, airport security stated that the plane was already ready to go, and they could not board. Then, after they discovered that the flight had ended up in a devastating crash, they immediately thought about what would have happened if those staff members had not stopped them before they stepped onto that fatal flight.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula de Silva asked everyone to stand and observe a minute of silence in honor of the victims during a speech, and he has declared three days of mourning for them. An investigation is in progress, and they will be hoping to uncover the true cause of the crash in the coming days. Experts tried to take a crack at it, though. Here's what they came up with.
After analyzing the footage of the plane wildly spinning before it went down, they were able to come up with a few clues to aid the ongoing investigation. They described it as an aerodynamic stall, meaning that the plane was struggling to fly due to the lack of airflow under the wings.
An aerodynamic stall occurs when the angle of attack of the plane is too high, causing the air to cease its flow under the wings because of the steep upward angle. While the wind pushes the front of the plane backwards, an area of turbulent airflow ends up behind the plane, further destabilizing the aircraft.
At the time of the incident, the aircraft had dramatically slowed by over 160 knots, which would have also contributed to the lack of airflow. After the changes in elevation, the plane entered a downward spiral toward the ground, but we can tell that the plane was still functioning because of the fact that the sputtering of the engines is clearly audible in the video, meaning that they were still running. However, the one unknown fact is why the plane slowed down so much with such a high angle of attack, leading to that aerodynamic stall.
Fact of the Day (Reader's Digest): Researchers once turned a live cat into a telephone. Princeton researchers Ernest Wever and Charles Bray took out a cat’s skull and most of its brain to connect the animal to electricity. When they spoke into the cat’s ear, the sound could be heard through a phone receiver in another room. The twisted experiment paved the way for cochlear implant developments.
Quote of the Day (Gracious Quotes): Cherish those who seek the truth but beware of those who find it. (Voltaire)
Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): Acumen (noun)- Acumen refers to keenness and depth of perception, discernment, or discrimination—in other words, the ability to think clearly and make good decisions, especially in practical matters.
In a Sentence: The fictional detective possesses a superior acumen that enables her to solve the most bizarre and puzzling of mysteries.
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