Crash

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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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    Carolina Beach Rd Helicopter Crash Thursday March 13, 2008

    Thursday March 13, 2008-Pilot John C. Miller, 18 year veteran firefighter, died in a helicopter crash behind Strickland Surplus Inc. at 5915 Carolina Beach Road in North Carolina. Miller was a member of a water rescue and recovery team and captain of Station 5. He ran a business, Wilmington Helicopter Rental & Training, and was about to take his final test to become a certified instructor. The helicoptor was a (year 2000) Robinson R22 Beta, a “trainer”. Miller was the only person on board the two seater.

    We extend our condolences to family and friends.

    The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.

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    Helicoptors: How long has this been going on?

    I was looking at the news and noticed this:

    Paramedics die in AirCare helicopter crashThe National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash, which may have occurred through negligent acts, i.e. failure to properly maintain the helicopter

    Have we always had so many helicopter crashes or are we just hearing about them now because our information management is what it is today?

    Look at all of these incidents:


    Swedish helicoptor crash. This was supposed to be his birthday present. Some birthday, huh.

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    Russia R-44 Helicopter Crash with 2 fatalities


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographerSergey Ryabtsev

    What: Robinson R-44 II
    Where: Nizhnevartovsk, Russia
    When: March 2, 2008
    Who: 2
    Why: On March 2, 2008, about 1320, the Robinson R-44 II, impacted trees and terrain near Nizhnevartovsk, Russia. The pilot and the passenger were fatally injured. The flight was conducted under Russian flight regulations.
    According to preliminary information provided by the Russian government, the wreckage of the accident helicopter was not located until July 2008. Initial examination of the wreckage revealed that the helicopter impacted a swampy forest area in a nose down, right roll attitude

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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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    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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    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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    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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    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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    Brazilian controller won’t answer questions

    Let me ask you, are the controllers going to be the fall guys for an insufficient and badly surfaced runway, out of service planes, an underbudgeted airport system and governmental corner cutting?

    A Brazilian air traffic controller accused of making errors that led to that country’s most deadly plane crash last fall refused to answer questions about the crash during his criminal trial Tuesday. Click thru to read the article…

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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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    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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    Premature and Unfortunate Conclusions in Brazil

    Local media tries to claim that pilot error was responsible for the airplane crash that killed nearly 200 people in Sao Paulo last week.

    The news magazine VEJA said that a short runway and a constricted area that gave little room for victims to escape contributed to the accident.

    The Brazilian air force said no conclusion had been reached.

    It labelled as “premature and unfortunate” any conclusion about the accident, “as long as the investigations are ongoing.”

    On July 17, a TAM airline Airbus 320 carrying 187 people overran the runway, crossed a road and slammed into an airport building.

    The left turbine was thrust in reverse and was helping the airplane slow down, the right one was accelerating.

    Key information has been obtained from the airplane’s black boxes.

    The runway, which had been closed has now reopened Friday.

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    Could It Be The Brakes

    SAO PAULO Widespread claims of a faulty runway, potential pilot error or failure of the plane’s brakes? That is the question

    Many officials and aviation experts blamed the rain-soaked runway where the plane skidded before crashing and exploding.

    A video of the landing suggests other factors.

    Footage shows the TAM Linhas Aereas plane accelerating instead of braking. Speculation is that the pilot was trying to lift off again.

    “The government will try to convince public opinion that the runway at Congonhas is not at fault,” said Elnio Borges, president of the Varig Pilots’ Association. “They’re going to do everything they can to blame the pilot.”

    Only 18 bodies have been identified. Four badly injured victims died in hospitals. At the TAM cargo building hit by the plane, eight people are missing.

    The landing strip had not been grooved to drain rainwater.

    “Why was Congonhas reopened in that state?” asked Paulo Sampaio, an aviation consultant at Multiplan Consultora in Rio de Janeiro. “It’s a crime.”

    Infraero’s Pereira said “We have to clarify why the plane accelerated again,” he added. “Only the black box can tell us that.”

    Air traffic controllers, fearing to be made scapegoats for that accident, have staged periodic work slowdowns to protest against deficient radar and radio equipment poor pay and hours. Delays and cancellations are routine. Passengers occasionally storm the airfields.

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    Anger Mounts

    Cezar Britto, president of The Order of Lawyers of Brazil said it was “a tragedy waiting to happen,” echoing public opinion. “What exploded in Cagonhas was not just the TAM airbus and almost 200 victims but the credibility of the Brazilian aviation system.”

    Cagonhas is notorious for its short, dangerous runway.

    “The runway was as slippery as soap,” a pilot confessed.

    Rescuers pulled 181 bodies from the twisted metal wreckage and rubble. Five people are listed as missing. 11 are hospitalized. No passengers survived.

    Relatives gathered to identify the remains amid calls for authorities to improve airport safety.

    The crash is the latest of a series of airline disasters. The main runway had been resurfaced last month, but more work was scheduled to allow for better water drainage.

    “Control tower operators had warned the runway should be closed,” said Sergio Olivera, who heads the Federation of Air Controllers.

    Footage of landing showed the aircraft travelling at high speed–the Airbus took only three seconds as opposed to the usual 11 to traverse the runway then disappeared after skidding off the left side of the runway. Then a ball of flame filled the sky.

    An investigation has been ordered. One of the black boxes has been recovered.

    President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva declared three days of national mourning. Pope Benedict XVI expressed his sorrow.

    In February a judge banned Fokker 100, Boeing 737-800 and Boeing 737/700 jetliners from the airport but the ruling was overturned in appeals.