Voepass plane operated without recording 8 pieces of information from the black box

The Voepass plane that crashed in Vinhedo last Friday (9) was operating with authorization to record eight pieces of flight information in the aircraft’s black box.

The airline was authorized by a temporary 18-month license granted by the National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac), granted on March 1, 2023.

The measure was determined based on a request from Voepass.

The determination exempts the company from recording important operational parameters required by the Brazilian Civil Aviation Regulation (RBAC No. 121) in the digital flight recorders, only for the ATR 72-500 model.

These include data on the functionality of the brakes (pressure and application of the right and left pedals), hydraulic pressure systems and all the command forces of the flight controls (steering wheel, column and pedals).

The flight control forces represent the forces that the pilot exerts on the aircraft. This means that the black box does not identify the pilot’s actions: whether he was steering the plane up, down, left or right.

According to pilot and aeronautical engineer Jorge Leal Medeiros, this could compromise the investigation into the accident in Vinhedo and other future Voepass flights, as possible errors could not be corrected.

The crash of flight 2883 that left 62 victims in the interior of São Paulo occurred within the period of validity of the exemption, which is valid until September 2024.

The paragraph 121.344 of the Brazilian Civil Aviation Regulation cites 91 pieces of information that must be recorded by airlines during the flight. See all the parameters that the Voepass plane did not record when operating:

  • frequencies selected in Nav 1 and Nav 2
  • brake pressure (selected system)
  • brake pedal application (right and left)
  • hydraulic pressure (each system)
  • position of the pitch trim control in the cabin
  • roll compensator control position in the cabin
  • steering trim control position in the cab
  • all command forces of the cockpit flight controls (steering wheel, column and pedals)

THE CNN contacted Anac and Voepass for a position.

The Aeronautical Accident Investigation and Prevention Center (Cenipa), which is conducting the investigation and analysis of the black boxes, was also contacted to report the relevance of the information to the case.

Plane crash: understand the black box and its importance

Source: CNN Brasil

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