Shocks the plane crash on Friday in the state of Sao Paulo, in the southeast Brazilas a result of which all 61 people on board lost their lives.

It is not yet known why the aircraft lost support and began to spin until it crashed in a residential area.

The aircraft, built by Franco-Italian company ATR, was carrying “57 passengers” and had “four crew members”, according to carrier Voepass.

It was flying from Cascavel, in the state of Paraná (south) to Guarulius International Airport, in Sao Paulo. After a sudden loss of altitude, it crashed at 13:25 (local time; 19:25 Greek time) in Vientiane, a community of 76,000 people, about 80 kilometers northwest of the city of Sao Paulo, causing terror among residents.

“There are no survivors,” the municipality of Valinius, which was involved in the rescue operation in the neighboring town of Vientiane, told AFP via email.

Shocking footage broadcast by Brazilian media shows the plane losing height at high speed, continuing to spin out of control, then billowing thick smoke from where it crashed in the neighborhood – where no casualties were reported on the ground.

An investigation has been launched by Brazil’s Aeronautical Accident Investigation and Prevention Center (CENIPA) to determine the cause of the accident.

The Brazilian president Luis Inacio Lula da Silva declared three days of national mourning after the “tragic accident”.

Truck driver Martins Barbosa was at work when he heard the plane had crashed 150 meters from his home. “I was afraid it had crashed into my house, my son was home,” he told AFP, describing the “desperation” he felt until he learned his child was fine.

“It was scary, I saw a plane spin and fall. God saved us, if it was any closer, (the plane) would have crashed into my house. I’m in a state of shock, I don’t stop shaking,” Vigneto resident Edna Barbosa told SBT television.

Another resident, Hicardu Hodrigez, told the Band News television network that he saw “many bodies on the ground, many…” at the scene of the tragedy.

According to the Brazilian air force, the flight “was proceeding smoothly until 13:20” (local time; 19:20 Greek time). But a minute later, the aircraft stopped “responding to calls” from the control tower and the crew “did not state that it was in an emergency or encountered adverse weather conditions.”

“Loss of radar contact was established at 13:22,” the air force added.

The aircraft was an ATR72-500. Its manufacturer, a subsidiary of Airbus and Italy’s Leonardo, emphasized in a statement that its experts would support “the investigation being carried out”.

The so-called black box has been identified and is expected to be analyzed.

The gendarmerie announced that the fire due to the crash of the aircraft was brought under control. Firefighting, civil protection and air force units were deployed to the scene.

The recovery of the victims’ remains for their “identification” has begun and was expected to “continue throughout the night,” the state governor, who rushed to the scene, told the press.

The bodies were to be delivered to the main mortuary in Sao Paulo, Brazil’s financial capital.

Voepass clarified that it “does not yet have confirmed information about the circumstances of the accident”.

According to Brazil’s civil aviation authority, the aircraft complied with all applicable regulations.

The first flight of this aircraft, built in France, took place in April 2010, according to an entry on the specialized website planespotters.net.

According to CENIPA data, not counting yesterday’s accident, since the beginning of the year in Brazil there have been 108 aviation accidents and crashes with a total of 49 deaths.

In the last ten years, 746 human lives were lost in 1,665 accidents and mishaps in the gigantic Latin American country.

In 2007, an Airbus A320 of Brazilian airline TAM skidded off the runway after landing at Sao Paulo’s Congonhas Airport and crashed into a cargo warehouse, killing all 187 on board and 12 others on the ground.

And, two years later, an Air France Airbus A330-230 flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris disappeared over the Atlantic with 228 people on board in an area known to experience turbulence.