Brazilian federal police have formally accused 16 current and former employees of regional carrier Voepass — including its owner and president, José Luiz Felicio Filho — of negligence and malpractice linked to a crash that killed all 62 people on board in August 2024. The ATR 72-500 turboprop plummeted 13,000 feet into a residential area in Vinhedo, near São Paulo, while flying from Cascavel in southern Brazil to Guarulhos international airport. Investigators say the aircraft was irregularly cleared for departure into severe icing conditions despite repeated failures of its de-icing system on three earlier flights that same day, and that technical faults were deliberately omitted from maintenance logbooks; local prosecutors will now decide whether to proceed with formal charges, which could carry prison sentences of up to 12 years.