'So Scared': Woman Sent Selfie, Messages To Family Before Deadly Brazil Plane Crash

One of the passengers who died in the horrific plane crash in Brazil last week sent a final, heartbreaking message to her mother moments before the disaster struck. On August 9, a Voepass plane travelling from Cascavel in Parana to Guarulhos in Sao Paulo crashed in Brazil’s Vinhedo. The plane took off from Cascavel Regional Airport at 11.56 AM in Parana and was heading for Guarulhos International Airport in Sao Paulo. While everything appeared normal until 1:20 PM, the Brazilian Air Force reported that the plane lost communication with the air traffic control.

Footage circulated on social media showed the plane descending down into a cluster of trees, followed by a large plume of black smoke. Authorities later confirmed that all 62 passengers onboard the plane died in the crash.

Rosana Santos Xavier, a 23-year-old woman from Franco da Rocha, in Greater Sao Paulo, was among the passengers who lost their lives in the crash. As the primary provider of her family, Rosana was travelling for work at the time, her mother, Rosemeire Xavier shared with TV Globo. She shared that her daughter usually worked from home but had to travel every two months to Toledo for meetings with her company.

Shortly after boarding the plane, Rosana sent messages in her family group chat. At around 11:47 AM, she wrote, “Man, two hours of flight. We’re going to arrive in the rain. I am so scared of this flight. I swear, the plane is old.” Just a minute later, she added, “There is a broken seat. I swear. Chaos.”

After complaining about the two-hour flight, she also sent a selfie to her mother, looking visibly unsettled. Rosana’s mother further shared with the Brazilian news agency that she advised her daughter to read a Bible verse to calm down. But as the messages continued, Rosemeire started to get worried.

She recalled the moment she learned about the crash on the news, saying, “I was in despair. I started running around the house screaming.”

On August 10, Brazilian authorities completed the recovery of the bodies of the 62 victims of the crash. Investigators have started examining the aircraft’s black boxes to determine the cause of the tragedy. “A total of 62 bodies (34 male and 28 female) were recovered and taken to the morgue in Sao Paulo for identification and delivery to their families,” the regional government said.

The airline, Voepass, said in a statement, “There is still no confirmation of how the accident occurred or the current situation of the people on board. The Company is providing support via telephone at 0800 9419712, available 24 hours a day, providing information to all its passengers, family members and employees.”