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Category: <span>TAM</span>

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1.5 Million paid

On July 18, all 186 people aboard the ill-fated Brazilian TAM flight 3054 died in a fiery crash in Sao Paulo. Thirteen people on the ground also were killed. The Airbus 320 careened off the notoriously short runway upon landing at Sao Paulo’s Cagonhas airport, skidded across a crowded avenue and slammed into a warehouse where it burst into flames.

Though TAM announced Saturday it has paid nearly 1.5 million dollars in indemnities to families of victims, as of Thursday, only one case has settled.

Ninety-nine victim’s relatives were indemnified, at 30,000 reales per victim, for a total of nearly three million reales.

Food and lodging expenses for families who traveled to the Sao Paulo airport in the days after th crash of flight 3054, as well as psychological treatment and funeral costs were also defrayed by the airline.


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Latin Airports Plagued with Problems

Brazilian officials have yet to agree on exactly what caused a TAM airliner to skid off the rain-slicked runway at Congonhas on July 17, killing all 187 aboard and 12 on the ground. Critics claim the runway is too short and lacks grooves to prevent skidding during wet weather.

Mountains increase the risks at airports in Tegucigalpa, Honduras and Quito, Ecuador.

Birds pose problems at airports in Panama City; Guayaquil, Ecuador; and Barranquilla, Colombia. A single bird sucked into an engine can down a plane.

Six hundred vultures have closed Barranquilla’s airport for two hours daily since June 19, Illegal dumping by squatters around the airport attracts the birds.

Peter Cerda, a Miami-based specialist in air safety said, ”We don’t have any airport in the region that we consider to be unsafe, including Congonhas,”

Mexico City already has modernized approach and departure procedures, allowing airliners to shave a few minutes off flights, and it is getting a new terminal later this year that will increase gates from 33 to 59. But air traffic there will remain congested because the airport’s two runways are too close together to permit simultaneous use.

A similar plan in Brazil has yet to get under way.


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TAM Linhas Aéreas Crash on 17th July Airbus A320-233 Paulo, Brazil

TAM Flight 3054 was a regular flight from Porto Alegre, Brazil, to São Paulo-Congonhas, Brazil.

FACTS

  • The plane was carrying 181 passengers, all of whom died in the crash.
  • The plane was carrying 6 crewmembers, all of whom died in the crash.
  • The plane killed 11 people on the ground, all of whom died in the crash.
  • The Airbus A320 skid off the end of the rain-soaked runway cleared the airport fence and slammed into a TAM building.
  • A video shows the plane touching down then speeding up.
  • One of the Airbus 320’s two thrust reversers was deactivated.
  • Flying with only one thrust reverser is allowed and considered “safe”, but reduces braking power.

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TAM AIRBUS Thrust Reverser ‘OFF’

Tam Airlines admits a thrust reverser had been deactivated during maintenance checks.

Tam Airlines insists the deactivation was in accordance with accepted procedures. Thrust reversers assist jets to slow down on landing.

The Tam Airlines’ Airbus 320 overshot the runway at Sao Paulo’s Congonhas airport, hit buildings and exploded. Speculation continues but there is no confirmation on the crash’s cause. The same plane had problems landing at Congonhas a day prior the crash when it had barely managed to stop at the limit of the runway. The report said that the pilot told air traffic controllers it was very slippery.

The right thrust reverser was “deactivated” at the time of the accident “in conditions stipulated by the maintenance of the manufacturer Airbus and approved by [Brazil’s] National Civil Aviation Agency” according to Tam Airlines. The Airbus’s manual says an inspection can be done up to 10 days after it is first detected and that the plane can continue to operate in the meantime.

The crash occurred in wet conditions runway that has been criticized as being too short, and whose new surface had not yet been properly surfaced to handle rain.

Video footage shows a few final moments of the Tam Airlines flight, and a similar plane that had arrived earlier. The Tam plane appears to be traveling at a higher than normal speed.The first aircraft apparently takes eleven seconds to travel along the visible section, while the plane that crashed covers the same distance in three. The Airbus 320 jet appears to continue speeding along the runway without slowing, before disappearing out of view. The flash of an explosion is then seen.

The Brazilian air force believes the footage shows the plane was traveling at excessive speed, according to Globo TV. One theory speculates that the pilot tried to take off again. Instead, the aircraft crossed the road and ploughed into a Tam Airlines building.

Brig Jorge Kersul Filho, director of the Air Force’s Centre for Investigation and Prevention of Air Accidents, said, “”That he jumped over the avenue was an indication he tried to take off. If he didn’t [try to take off] he would have gone nose down at the end of the runway.”


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Has Brazil Overcome its Aeronautic Crisis?

Three ANAC directors ( Denise Abreu, Jorge Luiz Veloso and Leur Lomanto) have resigned, leading ANAC ( Brazil’s National Civil Aeronautics Agency) to claim that the country’s aeronautic crisis has been overcome–a political move laying the blame of the entire system on the heads of three individuals.

President Lula told local radio that “problems still exist at the airports.” Statistics show that 11 percent of flights, 20 percent of which were canceled, were delayed during the holidays on Independence Day.

ANAC claims that problems began in Sept. 2006, when a GOL plane crashed in Mato Gross, killing 154, but the problem stems from a much earlier budget cut. The air disaster merely drew attention to the growing problem. The underfunded Brazilian air system has suffered from cutbacks and lowered standards across the board. Planes have been out of service for maintenance, and the airline Varig stopped flying.

When overworked traffic controllers stated their demands, a group of them was transferred from Air Defense to Civil Aviation.

After the TAM plane crash in July, killing 200 people, the Congonhas runway (known for its abbreviated length) in Sao Paulo was closed for resurfacing.

Replacements for Denise Abreu, Jorge Luiz Veloso and Leur Lomanto, have not been selected.


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Brazilian TAM to build air crash memorial at cargo service building

Brazilian TAM airlines said Sunday it is to build a memorial at the company’s cargo service building, nearly three weeks after an Airbus A320 belonging to the airline crashed into the site causing 199 deaths and heavy damage.


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Brazilians’ air traffic troubles

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Elnio Borges, who flies jets for Brazil’s Varig Airlines, says he becomes uncomfortable when he hears government officials here insist that there are no problems with the country’s air traffic control system.


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Pilot Error Suspected

Sources Close to Probe Say Engine Wasn’t Idled

Authorities believe pilot error caused the tragedy. If confirmed, it would cast doubt that poor runway conditions were to blame.

Pilots had programmed the computerized engine controls — similar to a car’s cruise-control system — to maintain a speed of about 150 mph. When the plane was about 30 feet off the ground, the pilots correctly switched one of the engines to idle, but did not do so with the other engine. When the plane was braked, the second engine attempted to accelerate to maintain the preset speed.

One of the airplane’s thrust reversers, a device used to slow the aircraft, was broken but the manufacturer claims plane is safe to fly with a disabled reverser.

However, it has long been claimed that the short runway at Congonhas is unsafe in rainy conditions. The runway has been the site of problem landings before, and was even closed briefly this year, by court order.

Air traffic controllers fear that government officials will use reports of pilot error to excuse themselves from making further improvements to the air safety system.


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Airbus says no evidence of plane fault

A representative for the European aircraft manufacturer told the Brazilian Congress, “We don’t see any indication of a fault.”

A TAM airline Airbus 320 overran the runway while landing at Sao Paulo’s Congonhas airport crossed a road and slammed into an airport building, and exploded on July 17.

Available data shows the aircraft’s brakes functioned correctly.

But the representative said that one of the engine’s throttles was in the ‘climb’ position.

The plane was also operating with only one of of its two thrust reversers, which are used to help brake the plane upon landing.


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No ‘Errors’ In Sao Paulo, Brazil Plane Crash

Mechanical or other failures were not responsible for the crash of a Brazilian airliner that killed 199 people in July, a report released Thursday said.

The report, presented to Brazilian lawmakers, came from the manufacturers of the Airbus that crashed at Congonhas Airport in Sao Paulo, O Globo TV reported.

However, the same congressional panel that heard the findings by Airbus determined last week that a misaligned engine throttle was likely the cause of the crash.

REposted from: http://www.postchronicle.com/news/breakingnews/article_21296833.shtml


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Infraero Oversight

Infraero, the airport authority, owns and operates Brazil’s commercial airports and has been overseeing Congonhas. Rainwater acumulating on the tarmac is a big issue for them, as it causes landing planes to skid. It’s such a big problem that the airport shut 18 times in the first quarter from flooded runways. Even before the accident, the short runway where the Tam Airbus skidded and crashed was scheduled to be retextured to handle water, but had been declared open for use in spite of not being properly surfaced to handle rain.

It was raining in Sao Paulo again yesterday.

Rescue workers have removed 173 badly charred bodies. The three story Tam Cargo center that was hit housed about 55 employees. Of those employees, three were killed, 11 were injured. and five are missing.

The word from officials investigating the crash is that the pilot attempted to take off when he realized the plane couldn’t stop.

An emergency meeting of congress was called to discuss the crash.

Dental records are being used to help identify the victims who are charred beyond recognition. All that remains of the airbus is the plane’s red tail fin.

It is common knowledge that the runways at Congonhas are too short.

A witness said, “We heard a loud skidding noise and saw the plane cross another lane very quickly, and then the plane disappeared. I felt the heat of the fire ball in my face. The fire was as big as a 25-story building.”

Witnesses feared the fire might trigger other explosions.

The plane’s black box is under investigation.

The company producing the Airbus is based in Toulouse, France, a subsidiary of European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co.

It has been revealed that that particular plane had logged about 20,000 flight hours in 9,300 flights, and was powered by International Aero Engines’ engines.

The leader of the opposition in the lower house of congress, Julio Redecker, was one of the passengers.

Ten months ago, a Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA passenger plane collided in mid-air with a business jet over the Amazon, killing 154 people.


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Brazil Seizes Flight Control Data

According to the Tam Airlines transcript, the pilots panicked, crying “Oh my God!, Oh my God!” as they tried to slow down the jetliner which landed with inoperable spoilers and a thrust reverser.

“Come on! Come on! Turn, turn, turn, turn!” cried the co-pilot moments before a final utterance, “Oh no!,” was heard. The tape goes blank as the jetliner slammed into a cargo building at 137 mph and exploded.

In the wake of the airliner crash in Sao Paulo last month, Brazil’s top prosecutor Matheus Baraldi Magnan, seized records from key flight control centers in response to concern over Brazil’s civil aviation system.

Explaining the surprise data impoundment, Magnani said the military hindered his seizure, and “holds on to the information. It is not possible today to know the extent and frequency of problems. Only with that information will it be possible to evaluate and improve the system…The goal is to assure seizure of the incident records, and any information about problems in the air traffic control system, which will allow us to assess the risks passengers and crew face aboard aircraft.”

The government confirmed that France and aircraft builder Airbus filed a complaint over leaks of the Tam airlines flight’s black box.

The French bureau’s response on August third was that “All sorts of information, correct or incorrect, is circulating, along with speculation and attempts at explanations.”

“It is a serious error to try to draw conclusions on the basis of incomplete and unanalyzed information.”

A transcript of the cockpit voice recorder was released last week by a congressional committee investigating the accident on.
July 17 when the TAM Airbus 320 carrying 187 people overran the runway while landing at Sao Paulo’s Congonhas airport, crossed a road and slammed into an airport building.


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Brazil Air

“How many people will be killed before the Brazilian government stops the [air force’s] live experiments on the travelling public’s safety?” said Marc Baumgartner, the president of the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers.

Brazil is rethinking its flight patterns

Across the country, frustrated passengers whose flights have been delayed or cancelled are rioting due to the long lines in Brazil’s airports. Underpaid and understaffed air traffic controllers are at the hub of a logistical nightmare. More than 10 government agencies oversee aviation.

Baumgartner accused the Brazilian government of “chasing scapegoats” among the Brazilian air traffic controllers instead of “re-engineering the necessary safety oversight and risk assessment to prevent Brazilian civil aviation from falling into deeper chaos.”

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva promised to get tough on safety and build a new airport in São Paulo to ease congestion. “Our aviation system, in spite of the investments we have made in the expansion and modernization of almost all Brazilian airports, is passing through difficulties.” To ease the pressure, several measures are planned like bans on charter, cargo and executive flights to Congonhas. The question is what pressure will such changes actually ease: the stressed airport system, or the government taking the heat for the stressed airport system?

Aviation experts say that the Airbus 320 that crashed at Congonhas was too large for the airport’s short runways, that the runway was not textured properly and part of the plane’s supplementary braking system was not working. Last February, a federal judge prohibited the landing large types of aircraft at the airport, including Fokker 100, Boeing 737-800 and Boeing 737-700.

Carlos Gilberto Salvador Camacho, director of flight security for the National Union of Pilots, tokd a São Paulo newspaper last week. “There is subliminal pressure from the commercial airlines that if you don’t land there you are somehow hurting the companies that rely on their revenues from the passengers.”

“What exploded at Congonhas was not just the TAM jet and its almost 200 victims, but the credibility of the Brazilian system of civil aviation. Ten months ago, the country felt the impact of the worst disaster in its history of civil aviation, an incident which lifted the veil off the chaos in the industry, and we completely ignored it.” wrote Cezar Britto, the national president of the Order of Brazilian Lawyers after the Congonhas crash.


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Tam Air Crash Lawsuit

A complaint filed by his family on behalf of Ricardo Tazoe, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, also names European jet manufacturer Airbus, the Goodrich Corp, and International Aero Engines (IAE) as defendants. The Miami resident died in an Airbus crash in Sao Paulo.

198 other people who were killed when the Tam Airbus A320 skidded off a rainy runway at Sao Paulo’s Congonhas Airport.

TAM is charged with negligence. The plane should have been grounded because one of its thrust reversers was not working. Defendants include Goodrich, the manufacturer of the aircraft’s braking system and IAE, which assembled the plane’s engine.

“From the evidence gathered so far, it’s clear that TAM knew there were problems with the aircraft,” Steven C. Marks, an attorney at Miami law firm Podhurst Orseck, said in the statement. “Had (the thrust reverser) been operational, it may have prevented this accident.”

The lawsuit seeks unspecified financial damages.

IAE is United Technologies Corp. Pratt & Whitney, Britain’s Rolls-Royce Plc, Japan’s Aero Engines Corp. and Germany’s MTU Aero Engones.

The firm that filed the suit is also representing several families in a suit concerning an earlier crash in the Amazon this year.


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Radar Failure

Radar failure over the Amazon is just one among a host of problems plaguing Brazil’s suffering aviation industry. The failure forced Brazilian and International flights to ground or to turn back. This from the country that sent a piece of the fuselage off thinking it was the flight recorder.

The radar was out from midnight until 2:30 am, and caused by an electrical problem. Travellers found themselves trapped in airports, unable to catch flights home. There was mass confusion in spite of the president’s speech primishing safety measures.

“Our aviation system, in spite of the investments we have made in expansion and modernization of almost all Brazilian airports, is passing through difficulties,” Silva said. “The security of our aviation system is compatible with all the international standards. We cannot lose sight of this.”

A new airport location will be chosen within 90 days but will take five years to build and is not a high priority. Congonhas, the nation’s busiest airport, has a slick, short runway considered a likely factor in the crash of the TAM flight that killed nearly 200 people; and the planned repair and remediation does have priority. The crash was the country’s worst disaster until Tuesday’s accident and it exposed widespread problems with the country’s air traffic control system.

Analysis of the recorded conversations should be available within a few weeks.


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Cockpit Voice Recorder Transcript

CAM – Cockpit area microphone voice or sound source
HOT – Flight crew audio panel voice or sound source (1)
PA – Airplane Public Address system voice or sound source
FWC – Automated callout from the Flight Warming Computer
RDO – Radio transmissions from TAM flight 3054
APP – Radio transmission from Approach Control
TWR – Radio transmission from the Congonhas Control Tower
CH2 – sound heard on CVR channel 2

-1 – Voice identified as the captain/PIC
-2 – Voice identified as the first Officer/SIC
-3 – Voice identified as a Flight Attendant
-? – Voice unidentified
* – Unintelligible word
# – Expletive
@ – Non-pertinent word
( ) – Questionable insertion
[ ] – Editorial insertion

Start Of Transcript

18:18:24.5 (all times are local time)
[start of recording]
18:18:24.5
PA-1 [captain makes speech to passengers]
18:18:53.4
CAM – ? [sound of whistling]
18:20:25.0
CAM [sound of flight attendant door open request]
18:20:28.1
CAM – 1 is ok?
18:20:29.7
CAM – 3 [flight attendant says that everything in the cabin is OK, and then asked where will they be landing]
18:20:33.3
CAM -1 I have just informed.
18:20:34.7
CAM – 3 I didn’t hear – sorry -her talking.
18:20:37.7
CAM -1 but she heard, Congonhas.
18:20:39.3
CAM – 3 is it Congonhas? its great so. she might have heard. thank you.
18:43:04.3
HOT -1 remember, we only have one reverse.
18:43:06.9
HOT-2 yes… only the left.
18:43:24.0
HOT-1 glideslope… LOC blue. LOC star. [LOC star means a an asterisk is displayed on the FMA, which means the loc capture]
18:43:26.6
HOT-2 checked.
18:43:27.1
HOT-1 autopilot one plus two.
18:43:29.4
HOT-1 flaps one.
18:43:30.7
HOT-2 speed checked.
18:43:36.7
HOT-1 clear status.
18:43:41.8
HOT-2 clear status.
18:43:43.8
HOT-2 clear.
18:43:48.2
RDO-2 going to intercept the localizer, TAM three zero five four.
18:43:52.2
APP TAM three zero five four, reduce speed for the approach… and call the tower on frequency one two seven point one five, good afternoon.
18:44:00.0
RDO-2 one two seven one five, over.
18:44:01.7
HOT-1 good afternoon.
18:44:06.4
HOT-1 flaps two.
18:44:08.01
CAM-2 speed checked.
18:44:20.0
HOT-2 flaps at two.
18:44:22.3
RDO-2 Sao Paulo tower, this is TAM three zero five four.
18:44:26.01
TWR TAM three zero five four, reduce minimum speed for approach, the wind is north with zero six. I will report when clear three five left.
18:44:33.4
RDO-2 good evening, reducing to the minimum possible [speed].
18:44:36.3
HOT-1 landing gear down.
18:44:37.7
HOT-2 landing gear down.
18:44:53.9
HOT-1 flaps three.
18:44:55.1
HOT-2 speed checked.
18:44:57.4
HOT-2 flaps three.
18:45:03.9
HOT-1 flap full.
18:45:05.7
CAM-2 speed checked, flaps full.
18:45:10.6
HOT-1 standby final checklist
18:45:12.0
HOT-2 standing by.
18:45:12.9
CAM-1 glide star, set missed approach altitude.
18:45:15.0
CAM-2 ALT**.
18:45:21.0
CAM-2 six thousand feet.
18:45:44.0
CAM [sound of windshield wipers operating]
18:45:52.1
CH2 [sound of outer marker beacon heard on channel 2]
18:46:03.2
HOT-1 final checklist.
18:46:04.6
HOT-2 final checklist, passing DIADEMA [name of the outer marker beacon]
18:46:10.4
PA-2 cabin crew, clear to land. [prepare for landing]
18:46: 14.0
CAM- 2 cabin crew
18:46:15.2
CAM – 1 advised.
18:46:16.00
CAM – 2 auto thrust.
18:46:18. 8
CAM 1 – speed.
18:46:20.0
CAM 2 – **-
18:46:21.1
CAM 1 – landing no blue.
18:46:22.6
CAM 1 – ECAM MEMO (Eletronic Centralized Aircraft Monitor – check memo status)
18:46:23.8
HOT-1 landing, no blue
18:46:24.9
HOT-2 landing no blue.
18:46:26.1
HOT-1 okay?
18:46: 26.7
HOT-2 okay..what?
18:46:28.6
HOT-2 okay.
18:46:30.8
HOT-? *-
18:46:30.8
HOT-2 final checklist complete.
18:46:33.8
CAM-1 runway in sight, landing.
18:46:41.7
CAM-1 ask him [the tower] about the rain condition, the runway condition, and if the runway is slippery.
18:46: 57.0
RDO-2 TAM on final approach, two miles away. could you confirm conditions?
18:47:01.7
TWR it’s wet, and it is slippery. I will report three five left clear, three zero five four.
18:47:06.1
RDO-2 already on final.
18:47:07.5
TWR the aircraft is starting the departure.
18:47:10.7
HOT-1 wet and slippery!
18:47:22.0
HOT-2 The aircraft is starting the takeoff run.
18:47: 34.3
TWR TAM three zero five four, three five left, clear to land, the runway is wet, and is slippery and the wind is three three zero at eight. knots.
18:47:40.6
HOT-2 three three zero at eight, is the wind.
18:47:42.9
HOT-1 checked.
18:47:43.9
TWR three zero five four?
18:47:45.3
RDO-2 three zero five four, roger.
18:47:46.4
FWC four hundred.
18:47:49.8
HOT-1 is the landing clear?
18:47:50.7
HOT-2 clear to land.
18:47:52.3
HOT-1 land green, manual flight.
18:47:53.7
CAM [sound of autopilot disconnect tone]
18:47:54.1
HOT-2 checked.
18:47:54.8
HOT-1 inhibit the glide [GPWS aural warning] for me please.
18:47:55.7
CAM [sound of triple click indicating reversion from CAT II or III to CAT I approach mode (manual flight approach)]
18:47:56.9
HOT-2 what?
18:47:58.8
FWC three hundred.
18:47:59.3
HOT-1 inhibit the glide for me.
18:48:00.6
HOT-2 okay.
18:48:03.0
HOT-2 inhibit.
18:48:05.8
HOT-2 middle.
18:48:11.6
FWC two hundred.
18:48:14.9
HOT-2 one dot now. okay.
18:48: 16.8
HOT-1 okay.
18:48:21.0
FWC twenty.
18:48:21.6
FWC retard.
18:48:23.0
FWC retard.
18:48:24.5
CAM [sound of trust lever movement]
18:48:24.9
CAM [sound of increase engine noise]
18:48:25:5
GPWS retard.
18:48:26:3
CAM [sound similar to touchdown]
18:48:26:7
HOT-2 reverse number one only.
18:48:29:5
HOT-2 spoliers nothing.
18:48:30:8
HOT-1 aaiii [sigh]
18:48:33:3
HOT-1 look this.
18:48:34:4
HOT-2 decelerate, decelerate.
18:48:35:9
HOT-1 it can’t, it can’t.
18:48:40:0
HOT-1 oh my god….. oh my god.
18:48:42:7
HOT-1 go, go, go, turn turn turn turn.
18:48:44:6
HOT-2 turn turn to…no, turn turn.
18:48:45:5
CAM [sound of crushing noises].
18:48:49:7
CAM-? (oh no) [male voice]
18:48:50:0
CAM [pause in crushing noises]
18:48:50:6
CAM-? [sound of scream, female voice]
18:48:50:8
CAM-? [sound of crushing noise]
[end of recording]
18:48:51:4


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Brazil’s TAM admits Brakes Not Working

Brazilian airline TAM admitted one of the thrust reversers on the Airbus A320 that crashed at San Paulo was not operating.

Its right braking system was deactivated in accordance with the Airbus manufacturer specifications approved by the Brazil’s National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac). There were problems with the brake days before the disaster.

Brazil’s Air Force Accident Investigation and Prevention chief Jorge Kersul said any aircraft can land properly without using the reverse brake. The reverse brake is only an additional instrument to help the plane stop.

Specialists said that if the airport’s runway is wet, it is difficult to land without using the reverse brake.

The investigation will last some ten months.


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Tam Crash on Take-off Pilot Error


Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Normando Carvalho Jr.

What: Tam Fokker 100 en route from Sao Paulo to Rio
Where: residential area 1 mile from Sao Paulo
When: October 31 1996
Who: 89 passengers,6 crew and 2 on the ground died.
Why: Summary: On October 31 1996, about 0545 UTC a Fokker 100, registration PT-MRK, operating as TAM Airlines flight. 402, a shuttle between Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, crashed shortly after takeoff from the Congonhas Airport, Sao Paulo, Brazil. The aircraft was destroyed; 89 passengers,6 crew and 2 on the ground died. 3 passengers were Americans .Witnesses reported the aircraft failed to gain altitude after take-off, collided with a tall building and crashed into residential area 1 mile from the end of the departure runway. Pilot error, unfamiliarity with the craft was judged to be partially responsible.

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