Brazil's federal police formally accused 16 current and former employees of Voepass airline on August 7, 2026 over the August 2024 crash that killed all 62 people on board, wrapping up a two-year investigation and pointing blame at the airline's top leadership Al Jazeera.

Voepass owner and president Jose Luiz Felicio Filho was among the 16 accused. The other 15 were charged with endangering air traffic safety resulting in a fatal disaster, a crime punishable by up to 12 years in prison. Some also face charges for leaving technical failures out of the plane's logbook, which is the official record that tracks whether a plane is safe to fly.

The plane, an ATR 72-500 twin-engine turboprop, was flying from Cascavel in Parana state to Guarulhos international airport on August 9, 2024. It plummeted 13,000 feet (3,960 metres) into the backyard of a gated condominium in the city of Vinhedo, outside Sao Paulo. All 58 passengers and four crew members were killed.

Federal police investigator Andre Ribeiro said at a news conference that the plane had been cleared for takeoff into known severe icing conditions, even though its de-icing system had failed on three earlier flights that same day. The de-icing system is what keeps ice from building up on the plane's wings and engines in cold weather, which is critical because ice buildup can make a plane lose lift and become difficult to control. Data recorders recovered from the wreckage showed the de-icing system had repeatedly failed or was switched on and off manually during 136 flights. Federal police concluded that deliberate omissions, improper maintenance, and organisational failures directly contributed to sending the plane into dangerous weather.

The federal police findings align with and extend the conclusions of a Brazilian Air Force probe conducted through Cenipa, the service's investigative arm, which published its final report on July 23, 2026 Reuters. Cenipa identified 19 contributing factors in the crash, including severe icing, de-icing system failures, pilot distractions, and broader deficiencies in operational and maintenance culture Reuters.

Investigators also found that the government knew about the de-icing problems well before the accident. ANAC, Brazil's National Civil Aviation Agency, is the government body that regulates and oversees civil aviation. An ANAC inspector found a fault in the de-icing system 11 months before the crash, but the plane was allowed to keep flying with restrictions G1 Globo. Ribeiro suggested that prosecutors should now look into whether ANAC itself should face accusations for allowing the plane to remain in service.

The federal police case now moves to prosecutors, who will decide whether to file formal criminal charges. The crime of endangering air traffic safety resulting in a fatal disaster carries a maximum sentence of 12 years per count, and the logbook charges could add to that. For Voepass, the accusation of its owner and president raises immediate questions about the airline's future and leadership.

The broader context here is about how multiple safety checks failed at the same time. Aviation safety works like a series of safety nets: if one net tears, the next one should catch the problem. Here, the de-icing system failed across 136 flights and nobody fixed it. The airline did not properly record or address the problem. The regulator inspected the plane, found the fault, and still let it keep flying. Cenipa's 19 contributing factors make clear that no single thing caused the crash. Instead, a chain of mechanical defects, human errors, and organisational failures all lined up. Whether prosecutors pursue charges against ANAC officials will signal how far accountability reaches beyond the airline and into the government bodies that are supposed to keep aviation safe.