Q&A: Sao Paulo plane crash
Follow this link to a knowledgeable article question/answer session by Tim Robinson from Aerospace International regarding the Sao Paulo plane crash
Or see the crash timeline.
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No ‘Errors’ In Sao Paulo, Brazil Plane Crash
Mechanical or other failures were not responsible for the crash of a Brazilian airliner that killed 199 people in July, a report released Thursday said.
The report, presented to Brazilian lawmakers, came from the manufacturers of the Airbus that crashed at Congonhas Airport in Sao Paulo, O Globo TV reported.
However, the same congressional panel that heard the findings by Airbus determined last week that a misaligned engine throttle was likely the cause of the crash.
REposted from: http://www.postchronicle.com/news/breakingnews/article_21296833.shtml
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The Cost of Cheap Air Travel
Hindsight is teaching Brazil some hard lessons. Some uncomfortable things are coming to light, like how the warning signs have been ignored. There’s a long trail of complaints about Brazilian aviation from the people in the system–(air traffic controllers, pilots, airport employees, etc.) that urgent major improvements were needed went ignored.
Airline safety relies on government-provided infrastructure. To put it simply, you can not skimp on airports. Things like long runways, grooved surfaces, overruns, planned SAFE approaches. Brazil dragging its feet is what killed nearly 200 people, no matter what the investigation says.
Airports need standards, and standards need to be enforced. Would the accident have happened on a longer runway that was properly surfaced? The pilots did NOT skid off the end of the runway. When they couldn’t stop, the pilots decided t get airborne again.
The mechanics of landing
When landing, a jet gets the main wheels onto the runway, which takes up 1000 or more feet of runway.
The pilot deploys the speed brake lever, then pulls the throttles into reverse thrust. This takes up runway at the rate of 200 feet per second.
So what happens when the jet brakes and the pilot realises it is too slick to stop? The pilot must get the engines back max power–was there adequate time and space for the Airbus to do this? Obviously not.
Are we following in Brazil’s footsteps?
The FAA is asking Congress to pawn off federal funding responsibilities for a national system through “user fees” (as our current FAA administrator has asked Congress to do).
Our amazing safety record comes from not skimping, not searching for cost-cutting measures. Will we continue to set the world safety standard or not? Only time will tell.
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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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What Is Sauce for the Goose is Sauce for the Gander
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva flies with a smart crew. They know it’s too dangerous, so the jet he’s on is not allowed to fly with one of its reverse thrusters deactivated. If it is not safe enough for him, why doesn’t the safety regulation apply to commercial flights such as the TAM airliner that crashed and killed 199 people last month? Isn’t it just as dangerous for them too?
The regulation that applies to Silva’s plane is ” a security rule for transporting the nation’s highest executive. “Air force commander Brig. Juniti Saito told a congressional panel during the investigation.
The problem is that one of the reverse thrusters used to slow the planes down during landings — was deactivated on that terribleTAM Airbus A320 crash. TAM Linhas Aereas SA said that according to government-approved safety measures. the plane was safe to fly.
Tell that to the nearly 200 fatalities of the crash: all 187 aboard plus 12 people on the ground.
Speculation as to the cause is currently focused the notoriously short. slick runway and the possibility that the jet’s throttles were set in the wrong position.
Congresswoman Luciana Genro said, “It’s obvious that no human life is less important than the life of the president of the Republic. The air force should try to stop Airbuses from flying with the reverse thruster deactivated.”
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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. -
Brazil | Congonhas SP Brazil | Crash | Infraero | TAM
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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Tam Air Crash Lawsuit
A complaint filed by his family on behalf of Ricardo Tazoe, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, also names European jet manufacturer Airbus, the Goodrich Corp, and International Aero Engines (IAE) as defendants. The Miami resident died in an Airbus crash in Sao Paulo.
198 other people who were killed when the Tam Airbus A320 skidded off a rainy runway at Sao Paulo’s Congonhas Airport.
TAM is charged with negligence. The plane should have been grounded because one of its thrust reversers was not working. Defendants include Goodrich, the manufacturer of the aircraft’s braking system and IAE, which assembled the plane’s engine.
“From the evidence gathered so far, it’s clear that TAM knew there were problems with the aircraft,” Steven C. Marks, an attorney at Miami law firm Podhurst Orseck, said in the statement. “Had (the thrust reverser) been operational, it may have prevented this accident.”
The lawsuit seeks unspecified financial damages.
IAE is United Technologies Corp. Pratt & Whitney, Britain’s Rolls-Royce Plc, Japan’s Aero Engines Corp. and Germany’s MTU Aero Engones.
The firm that filed the suit is also representing several families in a suit concerning an earlier crash in the Amazon this year.
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Fired: Head of Brazil airport authority
Jose Carlos Pereira, the head of Infraero (Brazil’s airport authority) will be replaced, the second official to be fired because of the worst plane crash in Brazil’s history. The president fired Defense Minister Waldir Pires on July 25 and brought in former Supreme Court Chief Justice Nelson Jobim to overhaul the country’s ailing aviation. The defense ministry supervises civil aviation in Brazil.
The TAM crash is actually the second major plane crash in Brazil in 10 months. In September, 154 people were killed when a Boeing 737 clipped wings in mid-air with a private jet and crashed in the Amazon jungle.
The replacement is Sergio Gaudenzi, head of the Brazilian Space Agency. An official announcement is not expected until Monday.
Pereira has been under pressure to step down since the Airbus A320 crash. 187 people aboard the TAM flight and 12 on the ground were killed in the accident The crash caused a national outcry for improvement in air safety.
Gaudenzi’s first task will be to restore normalcy at Brazilian airports.In Brazil that many passengers are now canceling flights and taking buses instead.
Many travelers avoid Brazil altogether.
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Brazil | Radar Failure | TAM
Radar Failure
Radar failure over the Amazon is just one among a host of problems plaguing Brazil’s suffering aviation industry. The failure forced Brazilian and International flights to ground or to turn back. This from the country that sent a piece of the fuselage off thinking it was the flight recorder.
The radar was out from midnight until 2:30 am, and caused by an electrical problem. Travellers found themselves trapped in airports, unable to catch flights home. There was mass confusion in spite of the president’s speech primishing safety measures.
“Our aviation system, in spite of the investments we have made in expansion and modernization of almost all Brazilian airports, is passing through difficulties,” Silva said. “The security of our aviation system is compatible with all the international standards. We cannot lose sight of this.”
A new airport location will be chosen within 90 days but will take five years to build and is not a high priority. Congonhas, the nation’s busiest airport, has a slick, short runway considered a likely factor in the crash of the TAM flight that killed nearly 200 people; and the planned repair and remediation does have priority. The crash was the country’s worst disaster until Tuesday’s accident and it exposed widespread problems with the country’s air traffic control system.
Analysis of the recorded conversations should be available within a few weeks.
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Cockpit Voice Recorder Transcript
CAM – Cockpit area microphone voice or sound source
HOT – Flight crew audio panel voice or sound source (1)
PA – Airplane Public Address system voice or sound source
FWC – Automated callout from the Flight Warming Computer
RDO – Radio transmissions from TAM flight 3054
APP – Radio transmission from Approach Control
TWR – Radio transmission from the Congonhas Control Tower
CH2 – sound heard on CVR channel 2-1 – Voice identified as the captain/PIC
-2 – Voice identified as the first Officer/SIC
-3 – Voice identified as a Flight Attendant
-? – Voice unidentified
* – Unintelligible word
# – Expletive
@ – Non-pertinent word
( ) – Questionable insertion
[ ] – Editorial insertionStart Of Transcript
18:18:24.5 (all times are local time)
[start of recording]
18:18:24.5
PA-1 [captain makes speech to passengers]
18:18:53.4
CAM – ? [sound of whistling]
18:20:25.0
CAM [sound of flight attendant door open request]
18:20:28.1
CAM – 1 is ok?
18:20:29.7
CAM – 3 [flight attendant says that everything in the cabin is OK, and then asked where will they be landing]
18:20:33.3
CAM -1 I have just informed.
18:20:34.7
CAM – 3 I didn’t hear – sorry -her talking.
18:20:37.7
CAM -1 but she heard, Congonhas.
18:20:39.3
CAM – 3 is it Congonhas? its great so. she might have heard. thank you.
18:43:04.3
HOT -1 remember, we only have one reverse.
18:43:06.9
HOT-2 yes… only the left.
18:43:24.0
HOT-1 glideslope… LOC blue. LOC star. [LOC star means a an asterisk is displayed on the FMA, which means the loc capture]
18:43:26.6
HOT-2 checked.
18:43:27.1
HOT-1 autopilot one plus two.
18:43:29.4
HOT-1 flaps one.
18:43:30.7
HOT-2 speed checked.
18:43:36.7
HOT-1 clear status.
18:43:41.8
HOT-2 clear status.
18:43:43.8
HOT-2 clear.
18:43:48.2
RDO-2 going to intercept the localizer, TAM three zero five four.
18:43:52.2
APP TAM three zero five four, reduce speed for the approach… and call the tower on frequency one two seven point one five, good afternoon.
18:44:00.0
RDO-2 one two seven one five, over.
18:44:01.7
HOT-1 good afternoon.
18:44:06.4
HOT-1 flaps two.
18:44:08.01
CAM-2 speed checked.
18:44:20.0
HOT-2 flaps at two.
18:44:22.3
RDO-2 Sao Paulo tower, this is TAM three zero five four.
18:44:26.01
TWR TAM three zero five four, reduce minimum speed for approach, the wind is north with zero six. I will report when clear three five left.
18:44:33.4
RDO-2 good evening, reducing to the minimum possible [speed].
18:44:36.3
HOT-1 landing gear down.
18:44:37.7
HOT-2 landing gear down.
18:44:53.9
HOT-1 flaps three.
18:44:55.1
HOT-2 speed checked.
18:44:57.4
HOT-2 flaps three.
18:45:03.9
HOT-1 flap full.
18:45:05.7
CAM-2 speed checked, flaps full.
18:45:10.6
HOT-1 standby final checklist
18:45:12.0
HOT-2 standing by.
18:45:12.9
CAM-1 glide star, set missed approach altitude.
18:45:15.0
CAM-2 ALT**.
18:45:21.0
CAM-2 six thousand feet.
18:45:44.0
CAM [sound of windshield wipers operating]
18:45:52.1
CH2 [sound of outer marker beacon heard on channel 2]
18:46:03.2
HOT-1 final checklist.
18:46:04.6
HOT-2 final checklist, passing DIADEMA [name of the outer marker beacon]
18:46:10.4
PA-2 cabin crew, clear to land. [prepare for landing]
18:46: 14.0
CAM- 2 cabin crew
18:46:15.2
CAM – 1 advised.
18:46:16.00
CAM – 2 auto thrust.
18:46:18. 8
CAM 1 – speed.
18:46:20.0
CAM 2 – **-
18:46:21.1
CAM 1 – landing no blue.
18:46:22.6
CAM 1 – ECAM MEMO (Eletronic Centralized Aircraft Monitor – check memo status)
18:46:23.8
HOT-1 landing, no blue
18:46:24.9
HOT-2 landing no blue.
18:46:26.1
HOT-1 okay?
18:46: 26.7
HOT-2 okay..what?
18:46:28.6
HOT-2 okay.
18:46:30.8
HOT-? *-
18:46:30.8
HOT-2 final checklist complete.
18:46:33.8
CAM-1 runway in sight, landing.
18:46:41.7
CAM-1 ask him [the tower] about the rain condition, the runway condition, and if the runway is slippery.
18:46: 57.0
RDO-2 TAM on final approach, two miles away. could you confirm conditions?
18:47:01.7
TWR it’s wet, and it is slippery. I will report three five left clear, three zero five four.
18:47:06.1
RDO-2 already on final.
18:47:07.5
TWR the aircraft is starting the departure.
18:47:10.7
HOT-1 wet and slippery!
18:47:22.0
HOT-2 The aircraft is starting the takeoff run.
18:47: 34.3
TWR TAM three zero five four, three five left, clear to land, the runway is wet, and is slippery and the wind is three three zero at eight. knots.
18:47:40.6
HOT-2 three three zero at eight, is the wind.
18:47:42.9
HOT-1 checked.
18:47:43.9
TWR three zero five four?
18:47:45.3
RDO-2 three zero five four, roger.
18:47:46.4
FWC four hundred.
18:47:49.8
HOT-1 is the landing clear?
18:47:50.7
HOT-2 clear to land.
18:47:52.3
HOT-1 land green, manual flight.
18:47:53.7
CAM [sound of autopilot disconnect tone]
18:47:54.1
HOT-2 checked.
18:47:54.8
HOT-1 inhibit the glide [GPWS aural warning] for me please.
18:47:55.7
CAM [sound of triple click indicating reversion from CAT II or III to CAT I approach mode (manual flight approach)]
18:47:56.9
HOT-2 what?
18:47:58.8
FWC three hundred.
18:47:59.3
HOT-1 inhibit the glide for me.
18:48:00.6
HOT-2 okay.
18:48:03.0
HOT-2 inhibit.
18:48:05.8
HOT-2 middle.
18:48:11.6
FWC two hundred.
18:48:14.9
HOT-2 one dot now. okay.
18:48: 16.8
HOT-1 okay.
18:48:21.0
FWC twenty.
18:48:21.6
FWC retard.
18:48:23.0
FWC retard.
18:48:24.5
CAM [sound of trust lever movement]
18:48:24.9
CAM [sound of increase engine noise]
18:48:25:5
GPWS retard.
18:48:26:3
CAM [sound similar to touchdown]
18:48:26:7
HOT-2 reverse number one only.
18:48:29:5
HOT-2 spoliers nothing.
18:48:30:8
HOT-1 aaiii [sigh]
18:48:33:3
HOT-1 look this.
18:48:34:4
HOT-2 decelerate, decelerate.
18:48:35:9
HOT-1 it can’t, it can’t.
18:48:40:0
HOT-1 oh my god….. oh my god.
18:48:42:7
HOT-1 go, go, go, turn turn turn turn.
18:48:44:6
HOT-2 turn turn to…no, turn turn.
18:48:45:5
CAM [sound of crushing noises].
18:48:49:7
CAM-? (oh no) [male voice]
18:48:50:0
CAM [pause in crushing noises]
18:48:50:6
CAM-? [sound of scream, female voice]
18:48:50:8
CAM-? [sound of crushing noise]
[end of recording]
18:48:51:4 -
Airbus | Brakes | Brazil | Congonhas SP Brazil | Crash
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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Brazil’s Defense Minister Ousted
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva fired his defense minister heeding calls for the removal of top aviation officials after nearly 200 people were killed last week.
Waldir Pires was forced out as defense minister. Nelson Jobim, a retired Supreme Court judge and former justice minister with close ties to Lula, replaced Pires.
Lula, who has been criticized for being slow in reacting to crises.
Jobim told reporters after taking office that he would decide by the weekend whether to replace officials at the airports authority, Infraero.
Jobim will have free rein to do what it takes to fix the ailing aviation system.
“We are going to do what has to be done … and spend what has to be spent,” the president said at Jobim’s swearing-in ceremony.
Yet airport chaos continues.
Air traffic controllers have held work slowdowns to protest outdated radar and radio equipment and poor salaries.
The crisis deepened when the radar outage forced flights to change course, causing delays. Weather and a runway problem in Sao Paulo have added to the woe.
More than half of all flights in the country were delayed or canceled on Wednesday for the fourth straight day.
To reduce the delays and cancellations, Brazil’s aviation authority temporarily suspended ticket sales for flights to and from Congonha.
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Brazil Air Chaos
Stranding passengers got a taste of Brazil.
Political cronyism to chronic underfunding in Brazil’s aviation system are considered as possible contributors to two major air disasters in less than a year––followed by a major radar failure over the Amazon.
For about three hours, air traffic controllers closed Brazilian air space.
An Airbus 320 operated by TAM Airlines crashed Tuesday at Congonhas airport in Sao Paulo, killing all 187 people aboard and at least four on the ground. Jorge Botelho, president of Brazil’s union representing air traffic controllers, on Sunday ridiculed the possibility of sabotage. He said that the government wants to blame the controllers to avoid responsibility for systemic air safety problems.
Brazilians have been suffering flight delays and cancellations since September, when a Gol Airlines Boeing 737 collided with an executive jet and crashed in the Amazon rainforest killing 154 people. Four air traffic controllers and the executive jet’s two American pilots, face criminal charges.
The accident touched off months of delays and canceled flights, as air traffic controllers held work slowdowns and stoppages to protest precarious conditions.
Brazil’s airports are seriously underfunded and stretched to the limit.
“There have been warnings, warnings, warnings about the need to do something about the communications systems, about the runways,” Brazilian aviation consultant Elias Gedeon said. “The government didn’t understand the importance of this. This is very bad for Brazil.”
Problems stretch back at least five years. Spending on aviation safety has averaged about $250 million a year since Silva took office in 2003, half of what was spent in 2002.
That the government has doled out top aviation posts to political appointees with little or no expertise in the field. The government spent millions to renovate the terminal at Congonhas airport. Tarmac improvements were saved for last and the runway was reopened before the renovation could be completed.
On Sunday, Amaury Guedes, a 72-year-old retired flight attendant, summed up the feelings of many Brazilians. “It was a tragedy waiting to happen because the planes kept growing, the wide bodies, and the runways were never extended to handle them,” Guedes said. “There are just too many passengers, and infrastructure hasn’t kept up with the growth.”
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Radar Failure in Brazil
A radar outage from 11:15 p.m. Friday to 2:30 a.m. Saturday, caused by an electrical problem, forced planes heading to Brazil to return to their points of origin and make unscheduled landings.
The nation has had chronic problems with delays and cancellations on domestic flights over the past 10 months but this is the first radar outage.
Sao Paulo’s Mayor Gilberto Kassab said that building a new airport could take between five and 10 years and is not a priority.
Officials mistakenly sent part of the plane’s fuselage to the United States, thinking it was the flight recorder.
The real flight recorder had been located and would be sent to Washington for analysis.
The radar outage occurred when a short circuit cut off electricity during routine maintenance in the jungle city of Manaus. Power was restored by 1:30 a.m. Radar coverage was working again an hour later.
The ailing industry has not recovered from months of work slowdowns by air traffic controllers protesting precarious working conditions. holes in the country’s radar coverage, antiquated equipment and flight controllers with only rudimentary knowledge of English.
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Brazil’s TAM admits Brakes Not Working
Brazilian airline TAM admitted one of the thrust reversers on the Airbus A320 that crashed at San Paulo was not operating.
Its right braking system was deactivated in accordance with the Airbus manufacturer specifications approved by the Brazil’s National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac). There were problems with the brake days before the disaster.
Brazil’s Air Force Accident Investigation and Prevention chief Jorge Kersul said any aircraft can land properly without using the reverse brake. The reverse brake is only an additional instrument to help the plane stop.
Specialists said that if the airport’s runway is wet, it is difficult to land without using the reverse brake.
The investigation will last some ten months.
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Brazil’s Aviation Crisis Continues
Radar failure over the Amazon forced Brazil to turn back and ground international flights yesterday.
Authorities mistook a piece of the fuselage from the accident for the flight recorder.
The loss of radar from 11:15 p.m. Friday to 2:30 a.m. yesterday caused planes s to return to their points of origin or make unscheduled landings.
A short circuit turned off electricity during routine maintenance. When power went out, 17 flights were within the coverage area. Nine planes continued to their destinations, and eight were rerouted. None were in danger.
“This is total chaos. I have never seen anything like it, and it makes me feel very unsafe,”
The radar problem prompted American Airlines to divert 13 Brazil-bound planes.
Delta Airlines said six of its flights were also diverted.
Jose dos Santos, a 43-year-old cafe owner, was aboard a cancelled flight when the crew announced Brazil was not letting airplanes enter its airspace because of the radar failure. “I was saying, ‘Oh, my God, my life is over!’ I was in a panic, all I could think about was the Gol jet that crashed in the Amazon last year,” Santos said,
Four United Airlines flights were also canceled.
The flight cancellations and diversions followed a nationally televised speech by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Authorities plan to build a new airport in Sao Paulo, where an Airbus A320 operated by TAM Airlines crashed Tuesday, killing 191 people.
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Airbus | Brazil | Congonhas SP Brazil | Crash
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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Airbus | Brazil | Congonhas SP Brazil | Crash
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.
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Airbus | Brazil | Congonhas SP Brazil | Crash
Prosecutors calling for closure of Sao Paulo airport
Brazilian prosecutors call for the immediate closure of Sao Paulo’s airport today after the country’s worst air disaster in its history.
Governor Jose Serra declared that the volume of air traffic at Congonhas must to be drastically. A plane belonging to Brazil’s TAM airlinehit a nearby warehouse and exploded, killing 186 people on board and three on the ground.
Footage shows Flight 3054 accelerating as it hit the short runway. Authorities believe the pilot tried to abort his landing and take off again.
Rescue workers suspended the search for victims when the building at the crash scene threatened collapse. 4 Europeans, three from France and one from Portugal, were on board.
Pilots are instructed to touch down within the first 1,000ft (300m), or pull up and circle round again. Yesterday, another TAM airline jet was rerouted after coming in at an unsafe angle.
The official statement is that it is necessary to temporarily paralyze the activities at the Congonhas Airport in Sao Paulo until a complete renovation of both of its runways can be completed and there is certainty that they are fully secure for full operations.
The senate leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSDB), Arthur Virgilio – whose colleague, the opposition leader Julio Redecker, was killed in the crash – said President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, needed to “act, not to talk…Otherwise his term will be marked by the suffering and pain of so many Brazilians who could still be alive.”
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Airbus | Brazil | Congonhas SP Brazil | Crash
Brazil’s Call for Change: A320 Crash
One day after a TAM Airlines Airbus A320 crashed in Brazil, killing at least 189 people, the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations chimed in on Wednesday, “Runways around the world have inadequate overrun areas.”
The airbus was trying to land on a wet runway at Sao Paulo Cagonhas Airport, and when they were unable to stop, they took off again.
The airbus managed to clear the airport fence and a highway. However it crashed into a gas station and a building then exploded into flame.
IFALPA said, Runway-end safety areas should be established at all airports with airline operations, with an overrun space at least 800 feet long or an arrestor system that could halt an errant aircraft.
The 6,362-foot runway in question has often been criticized as being too short.
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Airbus | Brazil | Congonhas SP Brazil | Crash
BRAZIL’S WORST-EVER AIR DISASTER
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact Photographer Alan OlivieriBRAZIL’S WORST-EVER AIR DISASTER
200 Feared Dead in Sao Paulo CrashAt least 195 people were killed in Brazil’s worst plane crash, a product of a country with an inadequate air travel network that has been plagued by havoc.
Witness Paulo Carol imagined he was at the set of a Hollywood disaster film when right in front of his taxi, an airplane crossed six lanes of the Avenida Washington Luis. He and his passengers fled on foot.
Airbus A-320 operated by the Brazilian airline TAM, skidded off the runway after touching down and collided with cars and through a gas station before slamming into a TAM maintenance building. 180 deaths were passengers on the Airbus jet. Fifteen more deaths included Tam employees in the building.
tos)Luiz Santos who barely escaped the explosion, said “The airplane was coming right at me. I could hear the sound of the engines and then it exploded.” His windows and the back end of his truck were shattered, but Santos and his passenger escaped.
Flight JJ 3054 left Porto Alegre at 5:16 p.m. and landed at Congonhas two hours later. The plane apparently touched down too far down the runway.
Accidents have made flying in South America dangerous to contemplate. Flight controllers are overworked, underpaid and untrained, and rely on aging and defective radar technology in the Amazon.
In September, a Gol airlines Boeing 737 collided with a private jet over the Amazon, killing 154. That investigation is ongoing.
The country’s air travel infrastructure has been unable to keep up with Brazil’s fast economic growth.
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Airbus | Brazil | Congonhas SP Brazil | Crash
Brazilian Crash Prompts Probe on Airport Work
Projects intended To Improve Runway
BUENOS AIRES, July 18 — Brazil is planning to investigate if recent construction projects intended to improve runways at Congonhas contributed to the TAM crash, which killed at least 189.
Officials emphasized that it is too soon to determine a specific cause but the world’s worst air crash in five years, is the source of sadness and outrage in Brazil. Critics of Congonhas airport have long predicted an accident like Tuesday’s.
The Airbus 320, touched down and when the pilot realized he could not stop, he attempted to take off again, narrowly clearing an elevated roadway before crashing into a fuel station and cargo office. The capacity of the plane was 185 adults. The 186 people on board included a baby. The weight of the plane was within approved safety ranges. One day before the crash a small turboprop plane harmlessly slid off the same wet runway.
Rescue crews continued recovering bodies. Authorities confirmed all 186 fatalities aboard the plane. The number could rise. The “black box” recorder has been delivered to the United States for analysis.
The 6,362-foot runway at Congonhas is 500 feet shorter than the runway at Reagan National Airport, which is considered too short for large jet landings during rain. The newly repaved runway was scheduled to be grooved to channel rain. as standing water has caused delays in the past.
A congressional panel is already probing Brazil’s aviation security system. Accusations have been made that airport authorities have taken bribes. Federal police are investigating the airport construction projects.
The Sao Paulo attorney general’s office closed Congonhas runway to large jets. “The runway needs to be extended by 1,275 feet to provide adequate space to accommodate jetliners…The airport put at risk the lives of passengers, crew members and those living in the surrounding area due to the constant skidding caused by the inefficient drainage system.”
Responding to objections from airport and airline authorities, an appeals judge lifted the ban. The Airbus 320 was not among those planes that had been restricted from landing.
In Sao Paulo, South America’s largest city with a population of about 20 million, Congonhas airport is surrounded by densely populated commercial and residential neighborhoods. In 1996, a TAM flight crashed a mile from the runway, missing an elementary school.
Gideon Ewers said, “Runway excursions account for something like a quarter of accidents. Anytime you run off the runway and are confronted with a steep slope, a sheer drop, a four-lane highway and buildings, it’s not good.” Ewers is with the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations. The International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations represents pilots from over 90 countries.
The federation urges authorities to add safety-strip extensions to the ends of runways or install “arrestor beds.”
Since 2000, there have been seven accidents in Sao Paulo resulting major damage to aircraft. Six occurred upon landing. A Gol Airlines jet collided with a small private plane over the Amazon rain forest, killing all 154 people abpard just ten months ago, but Tuesday’s crash is the deadliest in Brazil’s history.
A U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has an investigator at the scene to assist in the crash probe. Authorities will be combing the site, checking the runway slickness and the possiblility of pilot error. Former NTSB investigator Ron Schleede said. “Most runway-overrun accidents involve slick surfaces or planes going too fast to stop.” A Miami-based lawyer representing the families of 30 victims of the Gol crash, Ricardo Martinez-Cid said he has been contacted by attorneys for families in Tuesday’s disaster. Court actions could be filed after more evidence has been collected.
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Almost 200 Feared Dead in Air Crash
Brazilian officials now fear at least 195 people are dead from Tuesday night’s jetliner crash in Sao Paulo. The TAM airlines Airbus-320 was on a domestic flight to Sao Paulo from the southern city of Porto Alegre when it skidded off the end of the rain-slicked runway, crashed into a gas station and a building and burst into flames.
