By: Ethan Ding

A tragic plane crash in Brazil that killed all 62 passengers aboard on Sunday is still under investigation, and a definitive cause has not been determined yet.

Weather conditions may have affected the plane. Some videos of the crash suggest that ice may have built up on the plane. The aircraft was flying normally until it suddenly started spiraling in an unusual circling motion. Brazilian aviation engineer Celso Faria de Souza believes ice caused the accident based on the video evidence.

*In-flight icing is “perhaps the leading theory,” former National Transportation Safety Board Co-Chairman Bruce Landsberg told CNN. The crash resembles a 1994 crash in Roselawn, Indiana, that killed all 68 people on board and was caused by severe in-flight icing.

Another reason why the plane crashed could be engine failure. John Hansman, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, reviewed crash footage and suggested that it might have been an engine failure on one side, mismanaged by the crew, leading to the plane’s rotation downward.

John Hansman, a professor in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, reviewed some of the Brazil crash footage shared on social media and, without reviewing flight data, said the crash did not appear to have been caused by weather.

It may have been an engine failure on one side, mismanaged by the crew, which would lead to the rotation downward, said Hansman.

The investigation is ongoing, and more details will emerge soon. It’s a tragic event, and investigators’ thoughts are with the victims’ families during this difficult time.