Brazil

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    Is Brazil a One Trick Pony?

    In May, will Tam become the only Brazilian airline flying out of Brazil? If Ocean Air and Varig cancel all their International flights, their fleets of Boeing 737, Ebraer and Folker airplanes will service only Intra-Brazilian destinations.

    Brazil’s aviation safety record is notoriously negative. In 2007, electrical problems shut down Brazilian airspace for 2½ hours. Brazil diverted incoming flights to return to their respective points of origin or unscheduled landings at airports from Chile to Puerto Rico. (This was subsequent to the Sao Paulo Airbus A320 TAM Airlines Flight 3054 crash, but it was by no means the first disaster.) The last couple of years,in fact, Brazil’s entire civil aviation system has been in crisis, suffering from safety issues, air traffic controller strikes as well as flight cancellations and delays. The so-called “Apagão Aéreo” (Aerial blackout) followed the Gol Flight 1907 mid-air collision.

    The four CINDACTA, or “Centro Integrado de Defesa Aérea e Controle de Tráfego Aéreo (Integrated Air Traffic Control and Air Defense Centers) are run by the Brazilian Air Force. The government’s Tribunal de Contas da União (Union Accounting Tribunal) holds the Brazilian Government responsible for the disastrous record, due in part to Pan American World Airways Flight 202 ( April 28, 1952), VASP Flight 168 ( June 8, 1982), Varig Flight 254 ( September 3 1989), and TAM Transportes Aéreos Regionais Flight 402 (October 31, 1996), among others.

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    PR Newswire: Multiple Lawsuits Against TAM Airlines

    Masry and Vititoe Partners, MIAMI, March 26 /PRNewswire/ PRESS RELEASE — Internationally recognized aviation attorneys Steven C. Marks and Ricardo M. Martinez-Cid with the Podhurst Orseck law firm have filed a series of lawsuits on behalf of families of passengers killed in Brazil’s worst airline disaster. On July 17, 2007, 199 people perished when TAM Airlines Flight 3054 slid off the runway at Congonhas Airport and slammed into an air cargo building in Sao Paulo. Today, Podhurst attorneys filed 59 wrongful death complaints related to the catastrophe in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

    In addition to TAM NYSE: TAM, which is charged with its own negligence and that of its pilots and maintenance personnel, the defendants in the lawsuits are Pegasus Aviation IV, Inc.; Airbus S.A.S.; Airbus Industrie G.I.E. (EADS) (EAD.PA); Airbus Customer Services, Inc.; Goodrich Corporation NYSE: GR; and International Aero Engines AG.

    “Responsibility not only lies with the companies that manufactured and handled maintenance for the aircraft,” said Marks, “We believe Airbus provided inadequate customer support, simulator services, and training materials for the pilots and flight crew that replicates the performance of the aircraft in all normal and abnormal conditions.”

    Marks said it’s clear the flight crew knew there were problems with the aircraft before the disaster because the plane’s right thrust reverser had been deactivated before the flight.

    “The thrust reverser is used to slow the jet down upon landing. Without an operational right thrust reverser, it didn’t have enough room to stop on the runway, ending in a horrific crash when the plane skidded off the runway’s edge,” he said.

    Podhurst Orseck filed the first lawsuit related to the crash on behalf of the family of 35-year-old Ricardo Tazoe of Miami, an employee with Banco Santander. In all of the cases, the plaintiffs are seeking a jury trial to recover financial damages for pain and suffering; lost value of life; funeral expenses; and all other damages they may be entitled to under the law.

    Marks and Martinez-Cid have extensive experience handling Brazilian aviation matters. They currently represent the families of numerous passengers who were killed when Gol Transportes Aeros Flight #1907 collided with an Embraer Legacy 600 business jet over the Amazon Rainforest in September 2006.

    They have represented victims in countless significant major commercial airline crashes, including those killed in the crash of Comair Flight 5191 at the Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Ky. in August 2006. Marks has acted as co-lead trial counsel for the California State Court plaintiffs after a Silk Air crash between Jakarta and Singapore in 1997 (successfully obtaining one of the most significant and largest verdicts in a mass disaster aviation case) and acting as lead liaison counsel for the state court and federal multi- district litigation plaintiffs’ steering committees over the ValuJet Flight 592 crash in Miami-Dade County in 1996.

    Based in Miami, Podhurst Orseck, P.A. concentrates exclusively in trial and appellate litigation. The firm’s general tort practice places a major emphasis on aviation, automobile, products liability and medical malpractice litigation. In addition, the firm has a substantial practice in commercial, matrimonial and criminal litigation, as well as complex commercial tort litigation. Attorneys serve clients and corporations throughout the United States, and in many foreign countries. You can learn more about Podhurst Orseck by visiting the firm’s website at www.podhurst.com.

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    Tam Air Suit Filed

    RIO DE JANEIRO (AP)–Relatives of victims of Brazil’s Tam Air CRASH filed suit in Miami seeking damages in 59 wrongful death complaints. Plaintiffs are seeking a jury trial for pain and suffering, lost value of life, funeral expenses and other damages. The TAM Airlines Flight 3054 crash killed 199 people. Masry and Vititoe’s partner Podhurst Orseck filed the first case ten days after the accident occurred.

    Charged are TAM S.A. (TAM), its pilots and maintenance personnel, France-based Airbus; Goodrich Corp. ( GR) of Charlotte, North Carolina; International Aero Engines AG of East Hartford, Connecticut; and Pegasus Aviation IV Inc. of Delaware. The thrust reverser slows the jet down when it lands. Without a working right thrust reverser, it didn’t have enough room to stop on the runway, he said.

    Atty Steven C. Marks said.”Responsibility not only lies with the companies that manufactured and handled maintenance for the aircraft,” and that the flight crew knew there were problems with the aircraft before the disaster because the plane’s right thrust reverser had been deactivated before the flight.

    Brazil’s largest airline, was trying to reach agreements with families of victims and did not have an immediate comment.

    src: Dow Jones Newswires; South Florida Lawyers blog

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    Brazil jet thrust reverser ‘off’


    This photograph was produced by Agência Brasil, a public Brazilian news agency.Their website states: “O conteúdo deste site é publicado sob a licença Creative Commons Atribuição 2.5 Brasil”(This photo is published under the Creative Commons License Attribution 2.5 Brazil)

    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 insisted the deactivation was in accordance with proper procedures. However, nearly 200 people–passengers and crew–are dead.

    Yet this was in accordance with proper procedures?

    The airbus started to land at Sao Paulo’s Congonhas airport, and either aborted the landing or failed to slow down when the deactivated thrust reverser failed. The plane crossed the street, hit buildings and exploded.

    Tam Airlines said the right thrust reverser was “deactivated” at the time of the accident. To quote them specifically:
    “in conditions stipulated by the maintenance of the manufacturer Airbus and approved by [Brazil’s] National Civil Aviation Agency”.

    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.

    sources: http://news.bbc.co.uk
    http://www.aviation.com/ap_070721_thrustreverser.html

  • Air Traffic Up

    Brazilian air traffic has been up for the end of 2007 holiday season. This is news as Brazil’s aviation infrastructure has been struggling since a fatal crash of a TAM airliner at Congonhas airport, which was Brazil’s main domestic hub, caused disruption and led the government to restrict flights and basically turn over most of the aviation leadership.

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    Top Ten Disaster

    The Tam Air Crash in Sao Paulo has made a top ten disaster list.

    #2. Brazil Plane Crash – Aviators call São Paolo’s Congonhas Airport “the aircraft carrier,” because landing on its notoriously short runway, surrounded by densely populated residential areas, is as touchy as trying to put down on the deck of a ship at sea. Though a Brazilian court had banned large jets from the airport in February, citing safety concerns, the ban was later overturned. On July 17, 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, smashed into a gas station and then 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.

    Read More here

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    Brazil Compensation

    Defense Minister Nelson Jobim announced Brazilian airlines will have to compensate customers for excessive delays of more than five hours.

    During the past 14 months after two fatal plane crashes, the Brazilian government limited flights at certain airports and allowed air-traffic controllers to reduce the number of flights they monitor.

    Brazil’s federal government is in charge of managing and operating the country’s ailing aviation industry, which has been struggling since the GOL and TAM crashes.

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    Reali Taxi Aerea responsible for 8 More Dead

    The Learjet 35 that crashed on November 4 in São Paulo, Brazil, is responsible for the death of at least eight people. The São Paulo-based Reali Taxi Aerea Learjet was attempting to return to Campo do Marte Airport just after takeoff in light rain. It slammed nose first into a suburban neighborhood. The deceased include the pilot, copilot and at least six people in the residential neighborhood.

    The head of Brazil’s National Civilian Aviation Agency, Milton Zuanazzi, resigned in October after two recent aviation accidents: the July crash of a TAM Airbus at Congonhas Airport and the September 2006 midair between a Gol Airlines Boeing 737 and an Embraer Legacy 600.

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    David Barioni Neto CEO

    SAO PAULO, Nov 28 (Reuters) -TAM, Brazil’s largest airline appointed David Barioni Neto as its chief executive, replacing Marco Antonio Bologna, who stepped down following disaster after disaster over the past year. Though Bologna resigned, he remains a special adviser to TAM’s controlling shareholders, the airline said in a statement.

    TAM hired Barioni Neto in September from rival Gol Linhas Aereas

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    8 Dead in New Crash

    Officials of Reali were not immediately available for comment on the crash of the Learjet 35 on Sunday. It was raining at the time, but not badly; the cause of the crash is unknown.

    The private jet can carry up to 10 passengers. The first three victims identified were not passengers.

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    Sao Paulo Crash Sunday Nov 4

    Reali Taxi Aero’s small executive Learjet 35 took off in the rain at 14:10 local from Campo de Marte Airport in Sao Paulo and crashed into a house in the Casa Verde neighborhood half a kilometre from the runway after taking off. Eight people died; the bodies of four men, three women and a baby were found in the plane wreckage.

    Three others were rescued, including Claudia Lima Fernandes, 30,who was badly burned, and an 11 year old girl.

    Other neighborhood houses had to be evacuated and are being evaluated for safety.

    Witnesses said that the jet, which took off from Campo de Marte for Rio de Janeiro, ploughed nose first into the houses when it seemed to attempt a return to the airport.

    This was Sao Paulo’s second large air tragedy this year. On July 17, a TAM Airbus crashed while landing at the Congonhas airport, killing 199 people.

    São Paulo is known for its large helicopter fleet. Businessmen often fly the vast city by helicopter to avoid traffic and security threats .However last Monday three helicopters crashed in Sao Paulo in two hours.

    Three people died. Five days earlier, after having mechanical problems, an air force plane crashed north of Sao Paulo, There were no casualties.

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    Chairman Resigns!

    At a press conference Oct 31 in Brasília, Board Chairman Milton Zuanazzi, the last remaining member of ANAC’s former board of directors of the National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac) announced his resignation from the board.

    Zuanazz based his decision on claims that the National Civil Aviation Agency was the “scapegoat” for Brazil’s current air crisis.

    He said publicly that he “would not like to work” with Defense Minister Nelson Jobim, a position which is certainly understandable since Jobim has been trying to remove him since July.

    He delayed his resignation to the current time to allow Jobim to find new directors. Zuanazzi says that Jobim is not well-informed about Brazil’s aviation system, and classifies some of his proposals as “reckless.” The last straw was Defense Minister Nelson Jobim’s proposal to increase the required distance between airplane seats. Doing so would force carriers to raise fares, Zuanazzi said.

    One wonders how raising the distance between airplane seats will increase the safety factor, which is at the root of the whole aviation problem in Brazil.

    Zuanazz recommends Civil Aviation Secretary Solange Paiva Vieira to be his replacement.

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    Tam: Business as usual?

    With July’s fatal crash and a year of turmoil in the Brazilian airline sector, it has been a tough year for Brazil’s TAM Linhas Aéreas. Following months of air traffic controller strikes, airport delays and flight cancellations, one of Tam’s Airbus A320s overran the runway at São Paulo Congonhas airport in a catastrophe that claimed 199 lives.

    TAM president Marco Antonio Bologna has been feeling the brunt of Brazil’s favorite blame game: “who is responsible?” Bologna is reluctant to discuss the accident other than to describe the measures taken by TAM to assist the victims’ families.

    What did cause the crash?

    Brazil’s aviation industry continues on in a climate of fear and mistrust.

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    Pleas for Brazil to Drop Criminal Investigation

    Brazil’s air traffic control problem did not begin in July when a TAM Linhas Aereas SA Airbus crashed into a warehouse in Sao Paulo, killing 199 people. There was another crash the year before, a crash which led to a criminal investigation.

    The criminal investigation relates to this event: the mid-air collision between a GOL Boeing 737-800 and an Embraer Legacy executive jet last year The Boeing crashed into the Amazon jungle, killing all 154 people onboard. The business jet landed safely.

    The International Federation of Airline Pilots’ Associations claims that “The bottom line is they’ve got the cart in front of the horse on this. If they’re serious about improving air safety in Brazil, they’ve got to wait for the (technical) report and swiftly apply any recommendations made by it.”

    IFALPA is asking the Brazilian government to suspend the legislative inquiry and the Justice Ministry to adjourn criminal proceedings.”

    CRIMINAL CHARGES

    Joseph Lepore of Bay Shore, New York, and Jan Paladino of Westhampton Beach, New York are the Legacy’s two American pilots. Additionally four Brazilian controllers face charges in the criminal case in connection with the accident.

    The probe by Brazil’s air accident investigation body has yet to publish its findings.
    The pilots’ association claims that “A Federal Police investigation running in parallel with the independent accident investigation … risks obscuring the benefits of a proper investigation.” The International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers also criticizes the police probe.

    U.S. and Brazilian officials say the Legacy’s transponder and its collision-avoidance system were not functioning at the time of the crash, and that this went unnoticed by its American pilots. However, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration warns that pilots flying Embraer Legacy executive jets can accidentally switch off the transponder when placing their feet on a footrest under the instrument panel. The pilot’s left shoe can touch the switch controlling both instruments and accidentally switch them into “standby” mode.

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    Gol Linhas Aereas Buyback Under Consideration

    The Tam Air crash revealed defects in Brazil’s civil aviation system. The system has been stressed subsequent to air traffic controller strikes and work slowdowns that have been causing mass delays and cancellations and damaged Brazilian airlines.

    Gol Linhas Aereas Intelligentes SA shares dropped since Brazil’s deadliest air accident in July, when theTAM passenger jet crashed in Sao Paulo and killed 199 people.

    Following the crash, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva responded to pressure by firing the defense minister in charge of civil aviation, and the government is imposing a plan to reduce air traffic at Sao Paulo’s Congonhas airport, the site of the crash and the nation’s busiest airport.

    The family-run fund that controls the company announced it is considering a share buyback.

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    Gol Goes On and On

    According to Brazil’s Defense Minister Nelson Jobim, critics are “playing politics” when they disparage the state of Brazil’s aviation industry, in which occured in the past year, the crash of a Gol jetliner over the Amazon in which 154 people died, and July’s disaster when an Airbus crashed into a warehouse in Sao Paulo killing 199 people.

    Nevertheless, during a seminar in the United States, the President of the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers, Marc Baumgartner criticized the Brazilian Air Force which oversees Brazil’s air traffic control system for trying to punish the controllers. “The Brazilian Air Force invested lots of energy to arrest and prosecute its own workers but none to fix its (air traffic control) system.” He also said that “it’s a question of time before a new air accident happens again in Brazil.”

    So far, a military court has declined to indict five Brazilian air traffic controllers for the GOL crash. Two American pilots face charges in a civilian criminal court in connection with the same crash. A Congressional commission report supports the indictment of pilots Joseph Lepore and Jan Paladino.

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    Flight Recorder Details Heard

    Just before TAM Airlines Flight 3054 skidded off a runway and exploded as it slammed into a building, pilots screamed, “Slow down!” and “Turn, turn, turn!” as recorded by flight recorder transcripts disclosed Wednesday.

    If the congressional commission investigating air safety find that mechanical failure or pilot error contributed to the accident in São Paulo, that conclusion would take some heat off a government widely blamed for failing to improve the challenging runway. Pilots worldwide liken landing on it to landing on an aircraft carrier.

    According to the tapes, pilots were unable to activate the spoilers, aerodynamic brakes on the Airbus A320’s wings, as they touched down on the short, rain-slicked runway at Congonhas airport, according to the transcripts.

    The pilot, Kleyber Lima, 54, said “Only one reverser — spoiler nothing,” in the transcript, the first indication that something was wrong. The co-pilot, Henrique Stephanini Di Sacco, 54, says: “Look at that. Slow down, slow down.” Mr. Lima replies: “I can’t. I can’t. Oh my God! Oh my God!” Mr. Di Sacco’s last words are: “Go! Go! Turn! Turn! Turn!”

    The recording ends with screams and a woman’s voice, followed by an explosion.

    The July 17 crash killed all 187 people aboard the jetliner and 12 people on the ground.

    One of the two thrust reversers used to slow planes during landings, was inoperative. The airport’s runway is so short that pilots are warned to abort landings if they make any errors while touching down. TAM’s press office declined comment until the investigation is finished.

    Airbus spokeswoman, Barbara Kracht, said the aircraft manufacturer could not comment on the investigation, citing international aviation rules.

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    Proposed Brazilian Airline Restrictions

    Defense Minister Nelson Jobim announced plans to for an escape area at the end of the notorious Congonhas runway and limits on operations in wet conditions.

    Proposed rules would restrict destinations to a 620-mile radius of the Congonhas airport; it would also bar connecting flights

    Plans include limiting the number of passengers, and restricting takeoffs/landings to 33 hourly, and cutting passenger capacity from 5,100 per hour to 4,700.

    Operations at Brazil’s busiest airport were reviewed after an airliner ran off the runway and crashed into a building on July 17, the deadliest air accident in the country’s history. The 620-mile limit would eliminate tourist destinations in the northeast. One wonders if they are deliberately targeting the American market.

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    One Two Go Disaster

    Perth expatriate Robert Borland, 48, survived Sunday’s crash of discount airline One-Two-Go when it slid off the runway and burst into flames on the island resort of Phuket. Borland’s family wants to find the man who rescued him from the burning plane. 89 passengers and crew were killed, and 41 injured. 57 of the injured were foreigners. Forensic police have now identified 21 of the foreign victims Civil aviation officials have said the pilot had received permission to abort the landing at the last minute.

    There were no survivors of the Tam Airbus crush 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 nearly 1.5 million dollars in indemnities to families of victims, only one case has settled. Other of the Tam Air cases are in negotiation. Counselling treatment and funeral costs are also expected to be covered.

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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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    How the Airbus Brakes

    An A320 gets three devices to brake

    Interested in more about the Airbus? Airbus Flight Crew Training Manual.pdf

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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.”