Narrow Escape For Brazilian Man, The Flight He Missed Crashed Killing All

Adriano said the airline staff who stopped him from boarding the flight saved his life.

Late arrival for boarding helped a Brazilian man escape death as the flight he missed met a tragic end last evening.

Adriano Assis was to board the Voepass 2283 flight that crashed in Sao Paulo, killing all passengers and crew on board. In an interview with local news outlet TV Globo, Adriano said he was stopped from boarding the flight because he was late.

An excerpt from the interview was shared on X with the caption, “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.”

Adriano said the airline employee who stopped him from boarding the flight saved his life. He said a confusion over his flight details got him late for boarding. When the staff refused to let him on the flight, he “argued with him and so on, and that was it. And he saved my life.”

According to the flight manifest, the aircraft was intended to carry 58 passengers. The 58th passenger to never make it onboard was Adriano Assis. He added that after finding out about the accident, he searched for the airline employee and hugged him.

“I hugged him because he’s done his job. If he hadn’t done his job, maybe I wouldn’t be doing this interview today. I spoke out of anger, but this chap, I don’t even know his name, he really saved my life,” he said.

Several videos of the Voepass ATR 72 turboprop spinning out of control and slamming into a gated community in Vinhedo, some 80 km northwest of Sao Paulo, went viral on social media yesterday. All those who were on board — 57 passengers and four crew members — died. No deaths were reported on the ground, according to authorities.