Here is where the disaster stands:
On July 17, 2007 the pilot of TAM Airlines Flight JJ3054, tried to land at Congonhas, but realizing he wouldn’t be able to stop in time on the rain-slicked tarmac, tried to take off again.
He failed.
The Airbus A320 skidded across a road and smashed into a building owned by the airline. The ensuing fireball killed all 186 people on the plane and 13 more on the ground, making this the worst air disaster in Brazilian history.
The thrust reverser had been deactivated during maintenance checks, the airline confessed. The reverser is used to help jets slow down on landing. Tam Airlines insists the deactivation was in accordance with proper procedures. However, nearly 200 people–passengers and crew–are dead.
Brazil’s Globo TV televised that a problem with the right thrust reverser had emerged four days prior to the crash.
The Airbus’s manual stipulates that ten days can lapse after a problem is first detected in an inspection and the plane can continue to operate in the meantime.
Aviators call São Paolo’s Congonhas Airport “the aircraft carrier,” because landing on its short runway, surrounded by densely populated residential areas, is like landing on the deck of an aircraft carrier. Though a Brazilian court had banned large jets from the airport in February, citing safety concerns, the ban was later overturned.
Masry and Vititoe is participating in the litigation.
GoAir flight G8-140 had to return and make an emergency landing in Delhi, India, on November 18th.
Cathay Dragon flight KA-169 made an emergency landing in Hong Kong, China, on December 11th.
Wizz Air flight W6-1476 had to return and make an emergency landing in Barcelona, Spain, on July 29th.
Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-80 had to return and make an emergency landing in Istanbul, Turkey, on June 2nd.
British Airways flight BA-2631 made an emergency landing in Alicante, Spain, on September 18th.