SAO PAULO — The pilot of the plane crashed in Brazil last week was buried Monday in Sao Paulo, becoming the first person buried among the 62 victims, as authorities continue to work to determine what exactly caused the accident.
A hearse carrying Danilo Santos Romano’s coffin drove through the streets of Penha, a working-class neighborhood on the east side of Sao Paulo, on its way to the cemetery below his apartment. Family and friends walked behind the vehicle and dozens of merchants who knew him as a regular customer gathered on the sidewalks to applaud as he passed by. Romano was 35 years old.
Clesio Moura, one of the merchants who applauded, said he met the pilot two years ago.
“He had lived abroad, worked for foreign companies, but he was always humble,” Moura said. “We used to chat about football, he really wanted to have a son to take to the stadium one day. “Danilo was full of life.”
58 passengers and four crew members died in Friday’s accident. Images of the plane falling while spinning horrified people around the world, and the cause of the crash has not yet been determined. Some experts have raised the possibility of severe icing on the wings, causing the pilots to lose control of the plane, but airports minister Silvio Costa Filho told reporters Friday that Romano and his co-pilot did not. They made no emergency landing request, nor did they communicate. any adverse weather conditions.
They were flying the twin-engine turboprop ATR 72 of the local airline Voepass bound for the Guarulhos international airport, but the plane fell from the sky in the nearby city of Vinhedo. Romano had just finished his first full year as commander of Voepass, which hired him as a co-pilot in November 2022, the airline told the AP in a statement. He added that Romano had logged 5,202 flight hours for Voepass, all in ATR. It is the only type of aircraft that the company owns.
Romano’s widow, Thalita Valente Machado, did not speak to reporters gathered outside the ceremony, but provided a letter with a list of people and organizations she wanted to thank.
“We want to give a very special thank you to your flight companion Humberto de Campos Alencar e Silva, who fought alongside Danilo,” his letter said. “We are sure that they did everything they could and that they are heroes.”
Romano’s burial followed a wake at a basilica on Monday morning. One of the pilot’s heroes was present, the former goalkeeper of the Brazilian soccer team and World Cup winner, Marcos. Two of Romano’s friends told the AP that during the ceremony his 30-year-old widow repeatedly said, “I lost a part of myself.”
Romano’s body was the first to be delivered by the Sao Paulo morgue after the accident. The morgue began receiving bodies on Friday night and asked victims’ relatives to bring medical, radiological and dental records to help identify them. As of Monday night, forensic experts had identified 17 bodies and returned eight to victims’ relatives, the Sao Paulo state government said.
Meanwhile, in Cascavel, the city where the doomed flight departed, more than a dozen families are waiting for the remains of their loved ones. Mayor Leonaldo Paranhos said on his social networks that the city will make a conference center available if anyone wishes to hold a collective wake in the space.
“We are still waiting for information from the Sao Paulo morgue, which is still working to identify the bodies and communicate with the families,” Paranhos said. “Voepass will be in charge of sending the remains to their destinations.”
Authorities recovered the two “black boxes” from the plane. one with flight data and the other with cockpit audio – which are key to determining what exactly went wrong. The Air Force’s air accident prevention and research center began analyzing them at its laboratory in the country’s capital, Brasilia, and said it will issue a preliminary report within 30 days. Minister Costa Filho said the center was also opening a criminal investigation.
Voepass and French-Italian aircraft maker ATR are collaborating on the investigations, they said in separate statements.
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