Denied Boarding For Being Late, Brazil Man Escapes Deadly Plane Crash That Killed 61

Brazil’s Voepass Airlines recently made headlines after one of its flights crashed into a residential area in Vinhedo. The unfortunate accident claimed the lives of all 61 people on board, including 57 passengers and 4 crew members. Now, a Rio de Janeiro resident named Adriano Assis has revealed that he was supposed to be on the flight that met with the accident but missed it due to a mixup at the airport.

Assis narrowly missed the disaster as he arrived late at the airport after completing his shift at a local hospital. Speaking with Brazilian news outlet TV Globo, the man said he reached the check-in counter at 9:40 am but missed the two-hour flight from Cascavel to Guarulhos due to an airport mix-up.

So when he came to know about the crash, Assis credited the airport staff and hugged the official who stopped him from boarding the flight. Assis explained, “I got here at 9:40, the gate was closed, but the flight was leaving. I was working at the Toledo Regional Hospital. When I arrived, I waited to see if they’d opened, normally there’s always someone there at the counter, but there was no one. I stayed upstairs, had my coffee and waited. The microphone didn’t say anything, the boards didn’t say anything about the flight either. When I came down it was half past ten, there was a huge queue here.”

“I waited and when it got to about 10:41, the guy said I wasn’t going to get on. At that point, I argued with him and so on, and that was it. He saved my life. I hug him because he’s done his job. If he hadn’t done his job, maybe I wouldn’t be doing this interview today,” Adriano Assis added.

Sharing the video, an X user wrote, “This man wasn’t allowed to board the plane that just crashed in Vinhedo in Sao Paulo, Brazil because he was LATE. He argued with the man at the boarding gate, but ended up hugging him after hearing the plane had crashed. This is unbelievable.”

After the crash, Voepass Airlines said its main focus was on providing support to the families of the victims and finding out what caused the accident. As per The Guardian, Emerson Massera from the Brazilian military police confirmed there were no survivors. He described the situation as very tragic and mentioned that they are now focusing on clearing the debris for the investigation and identification of the victims. Reportedly, the plane crashed in a residential area 76 kilometres from the state capital, Curitiba.