Man misses doomed Brazil flight after airline worker denies him entry

A Brazilian man cheated death on Friday when he was barred from boarding a passenger plane that later crashed, killing all 61 people on board.

Adriano Assis, of Rio de Janeiro, told Brazilian news outlet TV Globo that he had booked the wrong flight and arrived late at the boarding gate for his Voepass flight from Cascavel to Guarulhos.

“Normally, there is always someone at the airport counter, but there was no one,” Assis said.

An airline worker refused to let him board the plane, even after he argued. In that tense moment, little did either of them know that their exchange would help Assis escape certain death.

“At that point, I argued with him and so on, and that was it. And he saved my life,” Assis said.

After learning of the crash, Assis sought out the airline worker and hugged him.

“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,” he said, his voice trembling with emotion.

Reflecting on the incident, Assis acknowledged his initial outburst. The man who had once been the target of his anger was now his saviour.

"I spoke out of anger, but this chap, I don’t even know his name, he really saved my life," he said.

Videos filmed by onlookers show the Voepass ATR 72 turboprop spinning out of control before crashing into a gated community in Vinhedo, about 80 kilometres northwest of Sao Paulo. While everyone on board was killed, authorities said there were no casualties on the ground.

The crash was the deadliest airline accident in Brazil since January 2023, when a Yeti Airlines plane crashed in Nepal, killing 72 people.