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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The single-engine plane crashed just after 10am on Wednesday morning on a secondary runway near Terminal 1 at the North Carolina airport.
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Two people were feared dead after a rare cargo plane crashed in the far north of the United States on Tuesday, troopers in Alaska said.
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Two people are feared dead after a plane crashed in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Tuesday.
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It is not known yet how many people were on board.
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The plus-size passenger refused to give up an extra seat on a plane to a toddler.
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VH-EBN (pictured) is the first of Qantas’ A330-200LR aircraft to be upgraded with Viasat-capable wi-fi antennae, and is expected to finish its three-week retrofitting this week. The remainder of Qantas’ international widebody fleet will be progressively refitted over the next couple of years.
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MANILA – Two Philippine Navy (PN) aviators were killed after a training aircraft they were flying crashed in Cavite province on Thursday. In a statement, PN spokesperson Commander John Percie Alcos said the Robinson R-22 trainer helicopter with tail number NHT-421 tried to make an emergency…
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