SAO PAULO, Brazil — An executive jet crashed into a heavily populated neighborhood of Sao Paulo on Sunday, killing at least eight people and leaving a pile of smoky rubble in Brazil’s second-largest city.
The plane, a Learjet 35 belonging to a Brazilian air taxi company, slammed into two houses shortly after taking off, said Lucia Ferreira, a spokeswoman for airport authority Infraero. Killed in the crash were the pilot, the co-pilot and at least six people on the ground, including a child, according to authorities.
The plane was not carrying passengers, according to a statement from the jet’s owner, Reali Taxi Aerea.
Witnesses told Brazilian media the plane plowed nose first into the blue-collar neighborhood as it apparently tried to return to the airport during cloudy and slightly rainy conditions. One home was destroyed and another was heavily damaged.
More than 60 firefighters were still combing through the debris hours later.
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