Brazil has tonight been plunged into shock after a plane carrying more than 60 passengers and crew crashed near São Paulo this afternoon.

All 61 people - 57 passengers and four crew members - on board Flight 2283, operated by Voepass Linhas Aereas, known informally as VoePass, have died, the airline has confirmed.

"The company regrets to inform that all 61 people on board flight 2283 died at the site. At this time, VOEPASS is prioritizing provision of unrestricted assistance to the victims’ families and effectively collaborating with authorities to determine the causes of the accident," the airline said.

Footage showed on TV shows a large area on fire and smoke coming out of what is believed to be a plane fuselage. Additional video on GloboNews - and widely shared on social media - captures a plane drifting downward vertically in a fatal spiral.

At an event in southern Brazil, President Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva asked the crowd to stand and observe a minute of silence as he shared the news. He said that it appeared that all passengers and crew aboard had died, without elaborating as to how that information had been obtained.

Firefighters, military police and the civil defence authority dispatched teams to the crash site in Vinhedo. Authorities sealed off the entrance to the residential area where the plane went down, as journalists outside watched as official vehicles including ambulances drove in and waited for updates.

UPDATE: VoePass's updated statement reads: "The company regrets to inform that all 61 people on board flight 2283 died at the site.

"At this time, VOEPASS is prioritizing provision of unrestricted assistance to the victims’ families and effectively collaborating with authorities to determine the causes of the accident."