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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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    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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    Cessna Crash Kills Brazilian Presidential Candidate

    Plane crashBrazilian presidential candidate Eduardo Campos, 49, has been confirmed dead after his campaign plane, a Cessna 560XL, plunged into a residential neighbourhood in the port city of Santos, Brazil, on August 13.

    According to the authorities, the 12-seater plane could not land in Guaruja due to bad weather after which, the air traffic control lost contact with it. It then crashed near a gym in a residential area of Santos, sending smoke clouds in the air.

    City Hall press officer Patricia Fagueiro confirmed that all 7 people aboard the plane, including Eduardo Campos, 2 pilots, a press advisor and campaign photographer, died in the crash.

    It is not yet clear if anyone on the ground was injured in the crash.

    President Dilma Rousseff said in a statement, “The whole of Brazil is in mourning.”

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  • 2012: Tam (Português)

    Mais uma vez estamos em meados de julho. Inevitavelmente, em meados de julho, meus pensamentos se voltam ao voo 3054 da TAM. Em 17 e julho de 2007, cinco anos atrás, um Airbus da TAM não conseguiu aterrissar no Aeroporto de Congonhas, em São Paulo, e tomou-nos cento e noventa e seis vidas. O número de vidas perdidas sempre ultrapassa o número daqueles que morreram. Cada um dos 199 que pereceram tinha família, e cada família afetou inúmeras outras pessoas de forma exponencial. Pude conhecer a maioria das famílias e amei-as todas. Aprendi com elas, em especial com sua força diante das adversidades. Também penso em como o acidente me transformou, em como aprendi com as famílias que ficaram para trás, a me recompor e a seguir em frente.

    Nesse dia, quero recordar essas famílias, sua graça e seus entes perdidos. Não podemos esquecer que, com seu passamento, ficou um buraco no mundo.

    Espero que as famílias – meus gratos amigos – tenham preenchido e superabundado o vazio em suas vidas com algo mais. Cinco anos de vida. Espero que tenham conseguido encher esses últimos cinco anos com uma vida bem vivida. O que isso significa? Uma vida vivida em plenitude. É o que há de bom, de mau, e tudo o que existe no meio disso. Espero que essa vida bem vivida tenha preenchido as trevas com luz, e enchido o vazio com boas lembranças, cada uma digna de ser revivida, como as páginas de um bom livro.

    Cada um de nós é como uma harpa com muitas cordas, sendo que cada corda e tangida por lembranças que tocam uma ou muitas notas. As cordas de nossas vidas se estendem do passado ao futuro, acordes distantes jamais vistos ou conhecidos. Cada dia nos traz acordes com novas e inéditas notas. Deixemos de lado todo arrependimento e regozijemo-nos na harmonia de nossas histórias e de nossos amanhãs. É o todo dessas notas que forma a música de nossas vidas.

    Espero que, ao preencher esse vazio com nova vida, meus amigos, agora sem dor, possam lançar a rede no passado. Espero que tenham aprendido a aceitar as flores que desabrocham no inverno. Lembranças devem ser acalentadas, sendo cada qual uma joia em si mesma. Lembranças são presentes eternos de alegria que não podem ser jamais perdidos. E, assim como podemos recordar a pungente alegria de uma rosa de verão que desabrocha no inverno, podemos recordar nossos entes queridos em julho. Eu não sorrio porque esqueci, eu sorrio porque eu lembro.

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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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    Tam Air Flight 3054 Case Filed

    Partner of the elite legal team of Masry and Vititoe, Podhurst Orseck filed 59 wrongful death lawsuits for the families of passengers killed on July 17, 2007 aboard Brazil’s TAM Airlines Flight 3054. The Law Office of Masry and Vititoe is familiar to the public as the firm depicted in the academy award winning film, “Erin Brockovich,” starring Julia Roberts.

    The 59 wrongful death lawsuits stem from the notorious Flight 3054, the worst airline disaster in Brazil’s history, when the A320 TAM Linhas Aareas aircraft attempted landing at Sao Paolo’s Congonhas airport and slammed into an air cargo building, killing 199 people (187 aboard the plane and 12 ground crew). Aware that the thrust reverser (an instrument that helps planes slow down on landings) had been deactivated during a maintenance check, the pilots mishandled the landing procedures. The parties included in the lawsuits are TAM, leasing company Pegasus Aviation, Airbus, Airbus Customer Services, Goodrich (thrust reverser provider) and International Aero Engines.

    The devastation was compounded when, within hours of the disaster, TAM released the passenger manifest via the internet. Abandoning the families of the crash victims to draw their own conclusions, Tam neglected to assign personal contact with the families of the victimized passengers to notify them of their loss.

    In prior airline crash cases, Masry and Vititoe has partnered with internationally recognized Florida-based aviation attorneys Podhurst Orseck. In addition to the Tam Flight 3054 case, together they also currently represent families of the passengers aboard the Gol Transportes Aeros Flight #1907 that collided with an Embraer Legacy 600 business jet over the Amazon Rainforest in September 2006. They also represent victims’ families in the Sibir Airlines crash that involved the same type of Airbus under similar circumstances; they too attempted landing in the rain, failed to stop and crashed into a building resulting in catastrophic loss of life.

    About Masry and Vititoe
    Masry and Vititoe is a leading law firm whose compassionate policy of keeping in personal contact further supports their clients’ comfort and confidence. The Masry and Vititoe firm has been defending the rights of the victims of negligence for over 30 years. As in the Hinkey case on which the movie “Erin Brockovich” was based, the firm is known for pursuing the rights of individuals who have suffered acute and chronic chemical exposure. They represent thousands of injured persons throughout the country, from Hawaii to the East Coast, and on their behalf have fearlessly combated and prevailed against some of the world’s largest corporations, including Fortune 500 companies, public utilities and oil companies.

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    Azul Brazilian Airlines Plane Makes Emergency Landing in Brazil

    AzulAzul Brazilian Airlines flight AD-2446 made an emergency landing in Fortaleza, Brazil, on December 2nd.

    According to the airline, the Embraer ERJ-195 plane heading from Sao Luis, to Recife, Brazil, was diverted due to technical issues.

    The plane landed safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.

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