The flight that crashed near Vinhedo, Brazil, began losing altitude a minute and a half before crashing, flight tracking data from Flightradar24 shows.
The plane, which belonged to Voepass Linhas Aéreas, had been cruising at 17,000 feet until 1:21 p.m. local time (12:21 p.m. ET), when it dropped approximately 250 feet in 10 seconds.
It then climbed approximately 400 feet in about eight seconds.
Eight seconds later, it lost just under 2,000 feet. Then, in approximately one minute, it began rapidly descending — roughly 17,000 feet in just one minute.
The last data transmission from the plane was at 1:22 p.m. local time (12:22 p.m. ET).