TAM Airlines A320-200 hits TAM Building

[Andrew Ong 1]

from Yahoo:

 

Brazilian plane crashes into gas station

 

SAO PAULO, Brazil- A plane with as many 170 people aboard crashed and burst into flames in Sao Paulo on Tuesday after skidding off a runway that has been criticized as being too short in a driving rain, the nation's airport authority said.

 

There were no immediate reports of injuries or deaths by authorities.

 

The Tam airline's Airbus-320 skidded off the runway at Congonhas airport, then crossed a busy road at the height of rush hour in South America's largest city before slamming into a gas station, said Jose Leonardi Mota, a spokesman with airport authority Infraero.

 

TV footage showed flames shooting into the sky and clouds of black smoke billowing into the air after the crash, and witnesses reported hearing one loud boom followed by a series of explosions.

 

Brazilian media said the plane actually crashed into a building or warehouse owned by Tam, and television images showed firefighters spraying water onto a building bearing a Tam sign. Globo TV reported at least eight people who were on the plane or in the building were undergoing treatment.

 

Tam Linhas Aereas flight 3054 was en route to Sao Paulo from the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre with between 150 and 170 people on board, Mota said.

 

"At this moment, we cannot determine the extent of possible injuries suffered by the airplanes occupants and crew members," the airline said in a statement.

 

The accident happened during heavy rains, and critics have warned for years that such an accident was possible at the airport because its runway is too short for large planes landing when the runway is wet.

 

A federal court in February briefly banned takeoffs and landings of large jets at the airport because of safety concerns at the airport, which handles huge volumes of flights for the massive domestic Brazilian air travel market.

 

But an appeals court overruled the ban on three types of planes, saying it was too harsh because it would have severe economic ramifications and that there were not enough safety concerns to prevent the planes from landing and taking off the airport.

 

Tuesday's crash came 10 months after Brazil's deadliest crash, a September collision between a Gol Aerolinhas Inteligentes SA Boeing 737 and an executive jet over the Amazon rainforest.

 

All 154 people on the Gol jet died. The executive jet landed safely.

[Isaac 0]

TAM Airlines Representative told CNN reporter that there are 175 people onboard.

- 6 crew

- 14 TAM employees

- 155 passengers

[Isaac 0]

The TAM 320 has a capacity of 168 seats.

 

CLICK ME

[Isaac 0]

200 people are confirmed dead at scene (according to the local fire department)

Edited July 18, 2007 by Isaac

[Lawrence L 0]

Report from the star

 

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) - A passenger plane with 176 people aboard crashed and burst into flames Tuesday after landing at Brazil's busiest airport in driving rain on a runway criticized as being too short, airport officials said.

 

There were no immediate reports of deaths by authorities, but a witness saw one charred body as flames shot into the sky and clouds of black smoke billowed into the air after the Airbus-320 owned by Brazil's Tam airline skidded off the runway.

 

The plane then traveled over or across a busy road at the height of the evening rush hour in South America's largest city and slammed into a gas station, said Jose Leonardi Mota, a spokesman with airport authority Infraero.

 

Tam worker Elias Rodrigues Jesus, walking near the site just as the crash happened, told The Associated Press that the jet exploded in between the gas station and a warehouse owned by Tam.

 

The accident happened during heavy rains, and critics have said for years that such an accident was possible at the airport because its runway is too short for large planes landing in rainy weather.

Edited July 18, 2007 by Lawrence L

[K P Tnay 0]

There's already an existing post on this: http://www.malaysianwings.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=6124

[Radzi 2]

Mods, please merge these 2 threads.

 

Anyway, here is the airport. 2 very close runways; which one was in use when the accident happens?

 

[Naim 6]

From AP pics below, most likely 35L.

 

 

 

+++

[Pieter C. 5]

SAO PAULO, Brazil - A passenger jet crashed and burst into flames after skidding off a runway at Brazil's busiest airport Tuesday and barreling across a busy highway, officials said. All 176 people on board were feared killed in what would be Brazil's deadliest air disaster.

 

The crash happened in a driving rain on a runway at Congonhas airport that had been criticized in the past for being too short. The TAM Airlines jet slammed into a gas station and a building owned by the airline, said Jose Leonardi Mota, a spokesman with airport authority Infraero.

 

TV footage showed flames and clouds of black smoke billowing into the air after the crash.

 

"I was told that the temperature inside the plane was 1,000 degrees (Celsius), so the chances of there being any survivors are practically nil," Sao Paulo State Gov. Jose Serra told reporters at the airport. That temperature in Celsius is equivalent to about 1,830 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva declared three days of national morning for the victims, and presidential spokesman Marcelo Baumbach told reporters late Tuesday that no death toll or cause would be immediately released because it was premature to do so.

 

"His worries now are with the victims and the relatives of the victims. That is main concern," Baumbach said, referring to Lula.

 

The crash — Brazil's second major disaster in less than a year — highlights the country's increasing aviation woes. In September, a Gol Airlines Boeing 737 collided with an executive jet over the Amazon rainforest, causing the passenger jet to crash, killing 154 people.

 

Since then, there have been questions about the country's underfunded air traffic control systems, deficient radar system and the airlines' ability to cope with a surge in travelers. Controllers — concerned about being made scapegoats — have engaged in strikes and work slowdowns to raise safety concerns, causing lengthy delays and cancelations.

 

TAM Airlines said there were 176 people on board the Airbus-320 that crashed — 170 passengers and six crew members. A Brazilian congressman was among those on the flight, his aide said.

 

Vans used by Sao Paulo's morgue sped away from the site hours after the crash and a doctor helping rescue workers told CBN radio that efforts were being made to identify 30 bodies.

 

"I can verify 30 burned bodies and I know that there are burned bodies in another location," Dr. Douglas Ferraz said in the interview.

 

As many as 12 people on the ground were injured and taken to hospitals, Serra said.

 

TAM worker Elias Rodrigues Jesus, walking near the site just as the crash happened, told The Associated Press that the jet exploded in between the gas station and a warehouse owned by TAM.

 

"All of a sudden I heard a loud explosion, and the ground beneath my feet shook," Jesus said. "I looked up and I saw a huge ball of fire, and then I smelled the stench of kerosene and sulfur."

 

TAM Linhas Aereas flight 3054 was en route to Sao Paulo from the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre when the crash occurred upon landing, TAM said in a statement.

 

Distraught relatives of passengers crowded TAM's check-in counters in Porto Alegre, complaining hours after the crash that the airline had not released a passenger list, Globo TV reported.

 

Lamir Buzzanelli said his 41-year-old son, Claudemir, had called him from Porto Alegre saying he was in the plane just before it took off.

 

"I'm still waiting for the official list to come out, but my hopes are not too high because I've been calling him on his cell phone, and all I get is his voice mail," Buzzanelli said, his eyes tearing up.

 

Critics have said for years that such an accident was possible at the airport because its runway is too short for large planes landing in rainy weather. Two planes had slipped off the runway in rainy weather on Monday, but no one was injured in either incident.

 

In 1996, a TAM Airlines Fokker-100 skidded off the runway at the airport and down a street before erupting in a fireball. The crash killed all 96 people on board and three on the ground.

 

A federal court in February briefly banned takeoffs and landings of large jets because of safety concerns at the airport, which handles huge volumes of flights for the massive domestic Brazilian air travel market.

 

But an appeals court overruled the ban, saying it was too harsh because it would have severe economic ramifications and that there were not enough safety concerns to prevent the planes from landing and taking off at the airport.

 

After the September airliner crash, a Brazilian judge indicted four flight controllers and the smaller jet's two U.S. pilots on the equivalent of manslaughter charges, but the defendants point to other problems — from holes in radar coverage to the inability of some Brazilian controllers to clearly speak English, the language of international aviation.

 

Travelers angry over excessive delays and cancellations in recent months have stormed airline check-in counters and runways in Brazil, and fistfights have broken out in waiting areas.

 

___

 

 

[Khaled 2]

 

 

By ALAN CLENDENNING, Associated Press Writer 36 minutes ago

 

SAO PAULO, Brazil - A passenger jet crashed and burst into flames after skidding off a runway at Brazil's busiest airport Tuesday and barreling across a highway, officials said. All 176 people on board were feared dead in what would be Brazil's deadliest air disaster, and at least 15 were killed on the ground.

 

The death toll officially stood at 40 after the crash of the Airbus-320 owned by TAM airlines, but that number was expected to rise sharply as rescue workers, forensic experts and doctors scoured the wreckage in South America's largest city.

 

The crash — Brazil's second major disaster in less than a year — happened in a driving rain on a runway at Congonhas airport that had been criticized in the past for being too short. The TAM Airlines jet slammed into a gas station and a building owned by the airline, said Jose Leonardi Mota, a spokesman with airport authority Infraero.

 

Authorities announced early Wednesday that they had recovered 25 charred bodies from what was left of the plane and that 15 people who were on the ground either died at the scene or in hospitals.

 

Ten more people on ground were injured and hospitalized, according to a Sao Paulo state public safety media official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of department policy.

 

TV footage showed flames and clouds of black smoke billowing into the air after the crash.

 

"I was told that the temperature inside the plane was 1,000 degrees (Celsius), so the chances of there being any survivors are practically nil," Sao Paulo State Gov. Jose Serra told reporters at the airport. That temperature in Celsius is equivalent to about 1,830 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva declared three days of national morning for the victims, and presidential spokesman Marcelo Baumbach told reporters late Tuesday that no death toll or cause would be immediately released because it was premature to do so.

 

"His worries now are with the victims and the relatives of the victims. That is main concern," Baumbach said, referring to Lula.

 

The crash highlights the country's increasing aviation woes. In September, a Gol Airlines Boeing 737 collided with an executive jet over the Amazon rainforest, causing the passenger jet to crash, killing 154 people.

 

Since then, there have been questions about the country's underfunded air traffic control systems, deficient radar system and the airlines' ability to cope with a surge in travelers. Controllers — concerned about being made scapegoats — have engaged in strikes and work slowdowns to raise safety concerns, causing lengthy delays and cancelations.

 

TAM Airlines said there were 176 people on board the Airbus-320 that crashed — 170 passengers and six crew members. A Brazilian congressman was among those on the flight, his aide said.

 

TAM worker Elias Rodrigues Jesus, walking near the site just as the crash happened, told The Associated Press that the jet exploded in between the gas station and a warehouse owned by TAM.

 

"All of a sudden I heard a loud explosion, and the ground beneath my feet shook," Jesus said. "I looked up and I saw a huge ball of fire, and then I smelled the stench of kerosene and sulfur."

 

TAM Linhas Aereas flight 3054 was en route to Sao Paulo from the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre when the crash occurred upon landing, TAM said in a statement.

 

Distraught relatives of passengers crowded TAM's check-in counters in Porto Alegre, complaining hours after the crash that the airline had not released a passenger list, Globo TV reported.

 

Lamir Buzzanelli said his 41-year-old son, Claudemir, had called him from Porto Alegre saying he was in the plane just before it took off.

 

"I'm still waiting for the official list to come out, but my hopes are not too high because I've been calling him on his cell phone, and all I get is his voice mail," Buzzanelli said, his eyes tearing up.

 

Critics have said for years that such an accident was possible at the airport because its runway is too short for large planes landing in rainy weather. Two planes had slipped off the runway in rainy weather on Monday, but no one was injured in either incident.

 

In 1996, a TAM Airlines Fokker-100 skidded off the runway at the airport and down a street before erupting in a fireball. The crash killed all 96 people on board and three on the ground.

 

A federal court in February briefly banned takeoffs and landings of large jets because of safety concerns at the airport, which handles huge volumes of flights for the massive domestic Brazilian air travel market.

 

But an appeals court overruled the ban, saying it was too harsh because it would have severe economic ramifications and that there were not enough safety concerns to prevent the planes from landing and taking off at the airport.

 

After the September airliner crash, a Brazilian judge indicted four flight controllers and the smaller jet's two U.S. pilots on the equivalent of manslaughter charges, but the defendants point to other problems — from holes in radar coverage to the inability of some Brazilian controllers to clearly speak English, the language of international aviation.

 

Travelers angry over excessive delays and cancellations in recent months have stormed airline check-in counters and runways in Brazil, and fist fights have broken out in waiting areas.

 

___

[Fairul 0]

read in another article saying that pilots had complained on water ponding on the runway...and runway not being groove yet....hydroplaning might be possible...

 

My condolences to the victims

[Edwin Yii 0]

[Samuel Chy 0]

Isaac, today you din go to school?

 

btw, just watch the news from ntv7, and they mentioned that got another crash.

[Naim 6]

189 killed in Brazil plane crash

By The Associated Press

 

SAO PAULO, Brazil - The pilot of an airliner that burst into flames after trying to land on a short, rain-slicked runway apparently tried to take off again, barely clearing rush-hour traffic on a major highway. The death toll rose Wednesday to 189 and could climb higher.

 

The TAM airlines Airbus-320 flight that originated in Porto Alegre in southern Brazil on Tuesday cleared the airport fence at the end of the runway and the busy highway but slammed into a gas station and a TAM building, causing an inferno.

 

The 6,362-foot runway at Sao Paulo’s Congonhas airport has been repeatedly criticized as dangerously short. Two planes slipped off it in rainy weather just a day earlier. Pilots call it the “aircraft carrier” �” it’s so short and surrounded by heavily populated neighborhoods that they’re told to take off again and fly around if they overshoot the first 1,000 feet of runway.

 

By contrast, New York’s LaGuardia Airport has a 7,003-foot runway that accommodates similar planes, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

 

“What appears to have happened is that he (the pilot) didn’t manage to land and he tried to take off again,” said Capt. Marcos, a fire department spokesman who would only identify himself by rank and first name in accordance with department guidelines.

 

http://www.nwherald.com/articles/2007/07/1...5b767375507.txt

[Andrew Ong 1]

News release from Airbus:

 

TAM LINHAS AEREAS FLIGHT JJ3054 ACCIDENT IN SAO PAULO, BRAZIL

 

Airbus regrets to confirm that an A320 operated by TAM Linhas Aereas was involved in an accident on 17th July, shortly after 6.50 pm local time in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

 

The aircraft was operating a scheduled service, Flight JJ 3054, from Porto Alegre to Sao Paulo, Congonhas airport. Unconfirmed reports indicate that there were 176 passengers and crew on board. At this stage, the number of casualties is not yet known.

 

The aircraft involved in the accident, registered under the number PR-MBK, was MSN (Manufacturer Serial Number) 0789, delivered to TACA International from the production line in February 1998. The aircraft had accumulated approximately 20.000 flight hours in some 9.300 flights. It was powered by IAE engines. At this time no further factual information is available.

 

In line with international convention, Airbus will provide full technical assistance to the BEA (Bureau d’Enquêtes et Analyses) and the Authorities of Brazil, who will be responsible for the investigation into the accident. A team of 5 specialists from Airbus is being dispatched to the site.

 

The A320 is a twin-engine single-aisle aircraft, seating maximum 180 passengers in a standard one-class configuration. The first A320 entered service in March 1988. By the end of June 2007, over 3000 A320 Family aircraft, of which 1700 A320s, were in service with 197 operators. To date, the entire A320 Family fleet has accumulated some 56 million flight hours in just over 31 million flights.

 

Airbus will make further factual information available as soon as the details have been confirmed. However, the investigation remains the entire responsibility of the relevant authorities and it would be inappropriate for Airbus to enter into any form of speculation into the cause of the accident.

 

The concerns and sympathy of the Airbus employees go to the families, friends and loved ones affected by the accident of Flight JJ3054 of TAM.

 

Summary:

• The A320-200 destroyed is PR-MBK
• MSN is 0789
• Delivered in February 1998 for TACA International Airlines
• The engine that was powering the aircraft is the IAE v2500 engine
• The aircraft has accumulated 20,000 hours and 9,300 flights

picture of the aircraft (taken 15 days before the crash):

http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=6011146&nseq=0

Edited July 18, 2007 by Andrew Ong

[Andrew Yong 0]

My condolences to the victims and their family !!! Hope they will be strong enough to face this fact !!!

[H Azmal 0]

From the Beeb:

 

[Seth K 3]

Wait a minute, the flight used the longest runway available but said that the runway too short for 320 to land?

Edited July 19, 2007 by Seth K

[Tamizi Hj Tamby 1]

My sincere condolences to all victims who perished tragically in this crash..

[H Azmal 0]

Wait a minute, the flight used the longest runway available but said that the runway too short for 320 to land?

 

Too short in watery conditions I suppose? Or even too short for comfort.

[Gavin Andrew David 6]

From Hafizi's image

it looks like they used the shorter runway

[Seng Lim 0]

Apparently the ill-fated TAM A320 landing is a lot (3-4 times according to the article) faster compared another similar aircraft which landed earlier.

 

Article and Video link:

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2007/...-sao-paulo.html

Edited July 19, 2007 by Seng Lim

[Pieter C. 5]

TAM pilot reportedly attempted to abort landing

 

Thursday July 19, 2007

The pilot of the TAM A320 that crashed late Tuesday at Sao Paulo Conganhas apparently tried to abort the landing and pull up as he contacted the rain-slickened, 6,365-ft. runway at Brazil's busiest airport.

 

Instead, the aircraft slid across a multilane road and into a building that may have contained or been adjacent to a fueling station, killing all 180 passengers and six crew aboard and 3-15 people on the ground. TAM owns the building, which reportedly was used as a cargo handling center.

 

CNN and the Associated Press reported from Sao Paulo that the initial investigation revealed that the aircraft was seen attempting to lift off following touchdown. Both the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder have been located, and at least 158 bodies have been recovered, according to press reports. The aircraft was en route from Porto Alegre. Reuters reported that the airport's secondary runway reopened yesterday.

 

CNN reported that cutting of grooves for rainwater into the recently resurfaced runway, 35L, had not been finished, while Bloomberg News said the airport shut down 18 times during the first quarter because of flooded runways. Brazilian courts addressed the safety of CGH for large aircraft in February, with an appeals court overturning an initial ruling that banned larger planes from the facility.

 

According to the Flight Safety Foundation's Aviation Safety Network, the IAE V2527-A5-powered A320 first flew in February 1998 and was delivered to TACA the following month. TAM took the aircraft in January of this year. It had accumulated approximately 20,000 flight hr. ASN said Tuesday's accident represents the worst involving an A320 and the worst in Brazilian history.

 

Read in another article, the righthand thrust-reverser of the doomed plane was unservicable !!!

 

That the following persons may all RIP:

 

http://www.taminforma.com.br/imprensa.aspx?id=1438

[Pieter C. 5]

Focus Of Brazil Air Crash Shifts From Runway

 

July 21, 2007

Debate over the cause of Brazil's worst air crash shifted on Thursday from widespread claims of a faulty runway to potential pilot error or failure of the plane's braking systems.

 

Soon after Tuesday's fiery accident at Sao Paulo's Congonhas airport, which killed all 186 people on board and more on the ground, many officials and aviation experts blamed the rain-soaked runway where the Airbus A320 skidded before slamming into a fuel station and cargo terminal.

 

But Globo TV said the jet had been flying without one of its thrust reversers, which help slow the plane at landing. It reported the device was turned off after a malfunction last week and that the plane had difficulty braking on the same slippery runway one day before the crash.

 

Still, an executive for the airline said technical norms allowed flying the jet even with two reversers shut. A reverser is temporarily deployed at the rear of a jet engine to divert its thrust forward and aid braking.

 

A video of the botched final landing by TAM Linhas Aereas plane released by the national airport authority Infraero also seemed to cast doubt on whether the runway was at fault in Brazil's second major aviation disaster in less than a year.

 

Infraero chief Jose Carlos Pereira said the runway was safe for aircraft the size of the A320 and that the recently repaved landing strip was not to blame. Nevertheless, he said air traffic in Congonhas would be cut by nearly 20 percent.

 

According to Infraero, the footage shows the jet accelerating instead of braking when it touched down on the short, slippery runway -- perhaps because the pilot was trying to lift off again after realizing he could not brake in time.

 

Others expressed doubt.

 

"The government is clearly trying to convince public opinion that the runway at Congonhas was not at fault," said Elnio Borges, president of the Varig Pilots' Association. "They're going to do everything they can to blame the pilot."

 

By Thursday afternoon, firefighters had sent 207 body bags to the morgue but said the exact number of corpses could not yet be established. Only 25 bodies have been identified.

 

Four badly injured victims died in hospitals. At the TAM cargo building hit by the plane, eight people were missing.

 

The crash highlighted persistent safety concerns about Sao Paulo's aging domestic airport. Congonhas, which sits in the middle of South America's largest city, is known for its short and slick runways.

 

The TAM plane was landing on a surface that had been repaved in June after officials tried to ban large jets over fears they could skid off the runway.

 

But the landing strip still had not been grooved to drain rainwater, prompting criticism that the airport was reopened prematurely because it is so important to Brazil's economy.

 

"The real question is why was Congonhas reopened in that state," said Paulo Sampaio, an aviation consultant at Multiplan Consultora in Rio de Janeiro. "It's a crime."

 

The airport reopened on Wednesday with an alternate runway. But federal prosecutors filed a petition to have it shut until both runways were determined to be meet safety standards.

 

"It's evident that something went wrong that didn't allow him to slow down in time," said Infraero's Pereira.

 

Firefighters have recovered both of the plane's cockpit recorders, which were sent to the United States for analysis. French and US safety investigators are helping Brazilian authorities probing the crash.

 

Air travel in Brazil has been chaotic since a Boeing 737 clipped wings with a private jet last September and crashed in the Amazon jungle, killing 154 people.

 

Air-traffic controllers, fearing they were being made scapegoats, have staged periodic work slowdowns to protest what they call deficient radar and radio equipment and poor pay.

 

Delays and cancellations have become routine, prompting frustrated passengers to occasionally storm onto airfields.

 

(Reuters)

 

[Naim 6]

That the following persons may all RIP:

 

http://www.taminforma.com.br/imprensa.aspx?id=1438

 

Why are there so many TAM employees onboard?

 

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