TOI World Desk
According to Brazilian news outlet TV Globo, Adriano Assis had booked the wrong flight and arrived late at the boarding gate for his Voepass flight from Cascavel to Guarulhos. An airline worker denied him boarding, despite his arguments.
“Normally, there is always someone at the airport counter, but there was no one,” Assis said.”At that point, I argued with him and so on, and that was it. And he saved my life.”
According to the flight manifest, Assis was the 58th passenger who did not board. After learning of the crash, Assis sought out the airline worker and hugged him.
“I hugged him because he did his job. If he hadn’t done his job, maybe I wouldn’t be doing this interview today,” Assis said, his voice trembling with emotion. “I spoke out of anger, but this chap—I don’t even know his name—really saved my life.”
The ATR-72 aircraft, operated by Voepass Linhas Aéreas, was en route from Cascavel in Paraná to Guarulhos in São Paulo, as reported by the website G1, citing information from Voepass.
Footage aired by Brazil’s TV GloboNews showed a large area engulfed in flames, with smoke billowing from what appeared to be the plane’s fuselage. Additional video captured the aircraft spiraling downward before crashing.