TAM Airlines Flight 3054
Encyclopedia
TAM Airlines Flight 3054 (JJ 3054) was an Airbus A320
airliner
, registration PR-MBK, operating as a scheduled domestic passenger flight
between Porto Alegre
and São Paulo
, Brazil
, which crashed upon landing during rain in São Paulo on July 17, 2007. The twin-engined turbofan
aircraft overran the runway, crossed a major thoroughfare during rush hour, crashed at high speed into a TAM Express warehouse adjacent to a filling station
and exploded. There were 187 people on board: 181 passengers, 19 of them TAM employees, and 6 crew members.
All passengers and crew were killed in the crash, in addition to twelve people on the ground. At the time, Flight 3054 had the highest death toll of any aviation accident in Latin America
, but was surpassed by the crash of Air France Flight 447
in 2009. It remains the deadliest accident involving an Airbus A320 anywhere in the world.
serial number 789, registration PR-MBK, powered by two International Aero V2527E-A5 turbofan engines
. According to Flight International
, the aircraft was built in February 1998 and first entered service in March flying for Grupo TACA
and later in November 2003 by Pacific Airlines. The aircraft was owned by Pegasus Aviation
prior to the crash, and entered into service for TAM in December 2006. As of April 20, 2007, the aircraft had flown 20,379 hours over 9,313 cycles.
The aircraft was dispatched with the thrust reverser
(a mechanical device to help slow the airplane down on landing) on the number 2 (right-side) engine deactivated as it had jammed. TAM said in a statement that a fault in a reverser "does not jeopardize landings." In the same statement TAM also said "no mechanical problem had been recorded on July 16 (the day before the accident)." It was reported that the plane had difficulty braking on the same runway one day prior to the fatal accident. The inactivated thrust reverser on the number 2 engine was confirmed by Airbus on July 25.
in Porto Alegre
at 17:16 local time
(20:16 UTC). It crashed upon landing at Congonhas-São Paulo International Airport in São Paulo
at 18:50 local time (21:50 UTC).
Flight 3054 was cleared to land at Congonhas' 35L runway. Reviews by government officials of the surveillance videos showed that despite the aircraft touching down at the normal touch-down point on the runway, it did not slow down normally, crossing the far end of the runway at around 90 knots (103 mph, 162 km/h). The aircraft, bearing to the left, continued off the end of the runway. The runway is elevated above the surrounding area, and the aircraft's momentum carried it over the traffic on the adjacent Avenida Washington Luís
, a major thoroughfare. After clearing the road, the aircraft exploded on impact with a four-storey TAM Express facility, resulting in a large fire and killing everybody on board instantly. The TAM Express building contained offices and a warehouse, and was located adjacent to a gas station.
The runway had recently been resurfaced, but it did not yet have water-channeling grooves cut into it to reduce the danger of hydroplaning
.
Flight Data Recorder
(FDR) information recovered after the crash and released by Brazilian authorities showed that immediately prior to touchdown, both thrust lever
s were in CL (or "climb") position, with engine power being governed by the flight computer's autothrottle
system. Two seconds prior to touchdown, an aural warning, "retard, retard," was issued by the flight's computer system, advising the pilots to "retard" the thrust lever to the recommended idle or reverse thrust lever position. This would disengage the aircraft's autothrottle system, with engine power then being governed directly by the thrust lever's position.
At the moment of touchdown, the spoiler
lever was in the "ARMED" position. According to the system logic of the A320's flight controls, in order for the spoilers to automatically deploy upon touchdown not only must the spoiler lever be in the "ARMED" position, but both thrust levers must be at or close to the "idle" position. The FDR transcript shows that immediately after the warning, the flight computer recorded the left thrust lever being retarded to the rear-most position, activating the thrust reverser on the left engine, while the right thrust lever (controlling the engine with the disabled thrust reverser) remained in the CL position. The pilots had only retarded the left engine to idle because they thought that without thrust reverser, the right engine did not need to be retarded as well. Airbus autothrust logic dictates that when one or more of the thrust levers is pulled to the idle position, the autothrust is automatically disengaged. Thus, when the pilot pulled the left engine thrust lever to idle it disconnected the autothrust system. Since the right engine thrust lever was still in the "climb" detent, the right engine accelerated to climb power while the left engine deployed its thrust reverser. The resulting asymmetric thrust condition resulted in a loss of control and a crash ensued. Moreover, the A320's spoilers did not deploy during the landing run, as the right thrust lever was above the "idle" setting required for automatic spoiler deployment.
Air safety in Brazil had been under increased scrutiny recently following the mid-air collision in September 2006 over the Amazon
of Gol Transportes Aéreos
Flight 1907
and an Embraer Legacy 600 (see Brazil's 2006-2007 aviation crisis). Congonhas was singled out for having safety issues relating to operations in wet weather due to its location and runway characteristics for the traffic it serves.
The 35L runway at Congonhas is 1,940 metres (6,365 feet) long. Congonhas' counterpart in Rio de Janeiro
, the Santos Dumont Airport, has an even shorter runway, at 1,323 metres (4,341 ft). Both airports receive the same type of traffic — ranging from small private planes to Boeing 737s and A320s. Many variables affect the landing distance of an aircraft, such as approach speed, weight and the presence of either a tailwind or a headwind. For an Airbus A320, a speed of just 20 knots higher than normal can result in as much as a 25% increase in the runway length needed to stop an aircraft. Wet weather can also significantly reduce the braking performance of aircraft, leading to an increase in the minimum runway length requirement.
Pilots have called Congonhas airport the "aircraft carrier," because of the runway's short length and because pilots are told to take off again and fly around if they overshoot the first 1,000 feet of runway.
In February 2007, a Brazilian judge briefly banned flights using Fokker 100, Boeing 737-700
and Boeing 737-800 aircraft in and out of the airport. The Airbus A320
was not among the aircraft banned, due to its manufacturer-stated braking distance
being shorter than those of the banned aircraft. Pilots had complained that water had been accumulating on the runway, reducing aircraft braking performance and occasionally causing planes to hydroplane
. The judge claimed the runway needed to be 388 metres (1,275 ft) longer for these aircraft to operate safely. At the time, a spokeswoman from Brazil's National Civil Aviation Agency claimed "The safety conditions of the runway and the airport as a whole are adequate." TAM also objected to the decision, with a spokesman stating "If the injunction stands, it will cause total chaos," claiming over 10,000 passengers per day would be inconvenienced. The airport authorities appealed the decision, resulting in it being overturned the following day. An appeals court overruled the ban on the three types of planes, saying it was too harsh as it would have severe economic ramifications and that there were not enough safety concerns to prevent the planes from landing and taking off from the airport. "The runway was reopened because of popular pressure," Gianfranco Beting, an aviation consultant, said in a TV interview.
Many flights, including all OceanAir
and BRA Transportes Aéreos
, were transferred to Guarulhos International Airport
, the major airport in São Paulo, due to the closure of the main runway at Congonhas and the ongoing investigation of the accident.
On July 20, Presidency Chief of Staff
Dilma Rousseff
announced plans to significantly reduce the number of flights operating at Congonhas. The plan included banning, within 60 days, all connection, stopover, charter, and international flights and the reduction in the number of private jets. The airport would only operate direct flights to certain cities in Brazil. The plan also called for a study of the expansion of São Paulo's two current airports and the construction of a third airport in the metropolitan area.
State crime scene investigators terminated the search for remains on July 28, 2007; as of that date, 114 bodies recovered from the site had been identified by the São Paulo Medical Examiner's Office as those of passengers.
and cockpit voice recorder
(CVR) were downloaded by the National Transportation Safety Board
in the United States commencing July 20 and July 23 respectively. Based on preliminary data from the FDR, on July 25 Airbus cautioned A320 operators to ensure that both thrust levers are set to idle during flare. The transcript of the CVR was released on August 1. It shows that the pilots were aware of the wet runway conditions and the deactivated thrust reverser. The pilots' comments suggest that the spoilers did not deploy and that they were unable to slow the aircraft. Crew error has not been ruled out.
An investigation by the Brazilian Public Safety Ministry released in November 2008 concluded that the pilots mistakenly retarded only the left engine to idle, because the right one had no thrust reverser working when in fact it was necessary to retard both engines in order for the spoilers to work. They also said that the National Civil Aviation Agency should have closed the airport on the night the plane landed because of heavy rains; that Congonhas airport authorities shared the blame because its runway had not been properly constructed with grooves to drain away excess rainwater, contributing to the crash; that the plane's manufacturer, Airbus, should have provided alarms warning the pilots that the braking system was failing; and that TAM failed to properly train its pilots, who did not act correctly in the emergency.
The report suggests two hypotheses for the accident. In the first, there was a flaw in the power control of the plane's engines, which would have kept one of the thrust levers into acceleration, regardless of their actual position. In such circumstances, there was mechanical failure of the aircraft. In the second hypothesis, the pilot has performed a procedure different from that provided in the manual, and put the thrust lever in an irregular position, a configuration of human error for the accident.
In addition to the positions of the thrust levers, the report points several factors that may have contributed to the accident, as a high volume of rain on the day, with the formation of puddles on the runway, as well as the absence of grooving. The report does not blame the length of the runway as responsible for the accident.
of Brazil ordered three days of national mourning
.
Several countries and organisations offered their condolences: Angola
, Argentina
, Bulgaria
, Chile
, China
, Colombia
, Croatia
, Cuba
, East Timor
, Ecuador
, the European Union
, France
, Germany
, India
, Indonesia
, Ireland
, Israel
, Mexico
, Oman
, Pakistan
, Panama
, Peru
, Portugal
, Russia
, South Africa
, Spain
, Tunisia
, United States
, Uruguay
, Vatican City
and Venezuela
.
During the 2007 Pan American Games
in Rio de Janeiro
, the Brazilian athletes wore a black armband in remembrance of the victims. The flags of all participating countries were flown at half mast on July 18. Matches involving a Brazilian athlete or team started with a minute of silence.
All matches of the Campeonato Brasileiro 2007
started with a minute of silence, while all players wore black armbands. Brazilian Formula One
driver Felipe Massa
had a black stripe on top of his helmet during the 2007 European Grand Prix
, to commemorate the victims. Rubens Barrichello
also had stripes on his helmet, and the two Red Bull Racing
drivers David Coulthard
and Mark Webber
had small Brazilian flags on their helmets referring to the accident.
More than 5,000 Brazilians marched to the crash site on July 29, 2007, blaming their government's failure to invest in airport infrastructure for the crash. Many of the protesters also demanded the ousting of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
.
(Also known as Air Crash Investigation in the UK, Australia and Asia and Air Emergency or Air Disasters in the United States) produced a one hour docudrama about the crash. The episode was entitled "Deadly Reputation".
Airbus A320 family
The Airbus A320 family is a family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger jet airliners manufactured by Airbus Industrie.Airbus was originally a consortium of European aerospace companies, and is now fully owned by EADS. Airbus's name has been Airbus SAS since 2001...
airliner
Airliner
An airliner is a large fixed-wing aircraft for transporting passengers and cargo. Such aircraft are operated by airlines. Although the definition of an airliner can vary from country to country, an airliner is typically defined as an aircraft intended for carrying multiple passengers in commercial...
, registration PR-MBK, operating as a scheduled domestic passenger flight
Airline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...
between Porto Alegre
Porto Alegre
Porto Alegre is the tenth most populous municipality in Brazil, with 1,409,939 inhabitants, and the centre of Brazil's fourth largest metropolitan area . It is also the capital city of the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. The city is the southernmost capital city of a Brazilian...
and São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, which crashed upon landing during rain in São Paulo on July 17, 2007. The twin-engined turbofan
Turbofan
The turbofan is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used for aircraft propulsion. A turbofan combines two types of engines, the turbo portion which is a conventional gas turbine engine, and the fan, a propeller-like ducted fan...
aircraft overran the runway, crossed a major thoroughfare during rush hour, crashed at high speed into a TAM Express warehouse adjacent to a filling station
Filling station
A filling station, also known as a fueling station, garage, gasbar , gas station , petrol bunk , petrol pump , petrol garage, petrol kiosk , petrol station "'servo"' in Australia or service station, is a facility which sells fuel and lubricants...
and exploded. There were 187 people on board: 181 passengers, 19 of them TAM employees, and 6 crew members.
All passengers and crew were killed in the crash, in addition to twelve people on the ground. At the time, Flight 3054 had the highest death toll of any aviation accident in Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
, but was surpassed by the crash of Air France Flight 447
Air France Flight 447
Air France Flight 447 was a scheduled airline flight from Rio de Janeiro-Galeão to Paris-Roissy involving an Airbus A330-200 aircraft that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on 1 June 2009, killing all 216 passengers and 12 aircrew. The investigation is still ongoing, and the cause of the...
in 2009. It remains the deadliest accident involving an Airbus A320 anywhere in the world.
Aircraft
Flight 3054 was an Airbus A320-233Airbus A320 family
The Airbus A320 family is a family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger jet airliners manufactured by Airbus Industrie.Airbus was originally a consortium of European aerospace companies, and is now fully owned by EADS. Airbus's name has been Airbus SAS since 2001...
serial number 789, registration PR-MBK, powered by two International Aero V2527E-A5 turbofan engines
International Aero Engines V2500
The IAE V2500 is a two-shaft high-bypass turbofan engine which powers the Airbus A320 family , and the McDonnell Douglas MD-90. International Aero Engines is a consortium backed by four aero-engine manufacturers, formed in 1983 to produce the engine...
. According to Flight International
Flight International
Flight International is a global aerospace weekly publication produced in the UK. Founded in 1909, it is the world's oldest continuously published aviation news magazine...
, the aircraft was built in February 1998 and first entered service in March flying for Grupo TACA
Grupo TACA
TACA is the trade name "brand" comprising a group of five independently IATA-coded and -owned Central American airlines, whose operations are combined to function as one and a number of other independently owned and IATA-coded regional airlines which code-share and feed the TACA brand system...
and later in November 2003 by Pacific Airlines. The aircraft was owned by Pegasus Aviation
Pegasus Aviation Finance Company
Pegasus Aviation, Inc. or the Pegasus Aviation Finance Company was a US based aircraft lessor formed in 1988. It is one of the world's largest commercial aircraft lessors, with a fleet of over 200 aircraft...
prior to the crash, and entered into service for TAM in December 2006. As of April 20, 2007, the aircraft had flown 20,379 hours over 9,313 cycles.
The aircraft was dispatched with the thrust reverser
Thrust reversal
Thrust reversal, also called reverse thrust, is the temporary diversion of an aircraft engine's exhaust or changing of propeller pitch so that the thrust produced is directed forward, rather than aft. This acts against the forward travel of the aircraft, providing deceleration...
(a mechanical device to help slow the airplane down on landing) on the number 2 (right-side) engine deactivated as it had jammed. TAM said in a statement that a fault in a reverser "does not jeopardize landings." In the same statement TAM also said "no mechanical problem had been recorded on July 16 (the day before the accident)." It was reported that the plane had difficulty braking on the same runway one day prior to the fatal accident. The inactivated thrust reverser on the number 2 engine was confirmed by Airbus on July 25.
Flight chronology
The plane departed from Salgado Filho International AirportSalgado Filho International Airport
Salgado Filho International Airport is the airport serving Porto Alegre, Brazil. It is named after the Senator and first Minister of the Brazilian Air Force Joaquim Pedro Salgado Filho , killed on June 20, 1950 in an accident with an aircraft which departed from Porto Alegre.In 2010 the airport...
in Porto Alegre
Porto Alegre
Porto Alegre is the tenth most populous municipality in Brazil, with 1,409,939 inhabitants, and the centre of Brazil's fourth largest metropolitan area . It is also the capital city of the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. The city is the southernmost capital city of a Brazilian...
at 17:16 local time
Time zone
A time zone is a region on Earth that has a uniform standard time for legal, commercial, and social purposes. In order for the same clock time to always correspond to the same portion of the day as the Earth rotates , different places on the Earth need to have different clock times...
(20:16 UTC). It crashed upon landing at Congonhas-São Paulo International Airport in São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
at 18:50 local time (21:50 UTC).
Crash
Washington Luís Pereira de Sousa
Washington Luís Pereira de Sousa was a Brazilian politician. His family was of Portuguese Romani descent. He was born in Macaé, Rio de Janeiro, and moved to São Paulo, where he became a lawyer. Elected governor of São Paulo state in 1920 and president of Brazil in 1926, Washington Luís was the...
, a major thoroughfare. After clearing the road, the aircraft exploded on impact with a four-storey TAM Express facility, resulting in a large fire and killing everybody on board instantly. The TAM Express building contained offices and a warehouse, and was located adjacent to a gas station.
The runway had recently been resurfaced, but it did not yet have water-channeling grooves cut into it to reduce the danger of hydroplaning
Hydroplaning (road vehicle)
Aquaplaning or hydroplaning by the tires of a road vehicle, aircraft or sometimes roller coaster occurs when a layer of water builds between the rubber tires of the vehicle and the road surface, leading to the loss of traction and thus preventing the vehicle from responding to control inputs such...
.
Flight Data Recorder
Flight data recorder
A flight data recorder is an electronic device employed to record any instructions sent to any electronic systems on an aircraft. It is a device used to record specific aircraft performance parameters...
(FDR) information recovered after the crash and released by Brazilian authorities showed that immediately prior to touchdown, both thrust lever
Thrust lever
Thrust levers are found in the cockpit of aircraft, and are used by the pilot, copilot, or autopilot to control the power output of the aircraft's engines....
s were in CL (or "climb") position, with engine power being governed by the flight computer's autothrottle
Autothrottle
An autothrottle allows a pilot to control the power setting of an aircraft's engines by specifying a desired flight characteristic, rather than manually controlling fuel flow...
system. Two seconds prior to touchdown, an aural warning, "retard, retard," was issued by the flight's computer system, advising the pilots to "retard" the thrust lever to the recommended idle or reverse thrust lever position. This would disengage the aircraft's autothrottle system, with engine power then being governed directly by the thrust lever's position.
At the moment of touchdown, the spoiler
Spoiler (aeronautics)
In aeronautics, a spoiler is a device intended to reduce lift in an aircraft. Spoilers are plates on the top surface of a wing which can be extended upward into the airflow and spoil it. By doing so, the spoiler creates a carefully controlled stall over the portion of the wing behind it, greatly...
lever was in the "ARMED" position. According to the system logic of the A320's flight controls, in order for the spoilers to automatically deploy upon touchdown not only must the spoiler lever be in the "ARMED" position, but both thrust levers must be at or close to the "idle" position. The FDR transcript shows that immediately after the warning, the flight computer recorded the left thrust lever being retarded to the rear-most position, activating the thrust reverser on the left engine, while the right thrust lever (controlling the engine with the disabled thrust reverser) remained in the CL position. The pilots had only retarded the left engine to idle because they thought that without thrust reverser, the right engine did not need to be retarded as well. Airbus autothrust logic dictates that when one or more of the thrust levers is pulled to the idle position, the autothrust is automatically disengaged. Thus, when the pilot pulled the left engine thrust lever to idle it disconnected the autothrust system. Since the right engine thrust lever was still in the "climb" detent, the right engine accelerated to climb power while the left engine deployed its thrust reverser. The resulting asymmetric thrust condition resulted in a loss of control and a crash ensued. Moreover, the A320's spoilers did not deploy during the landing run, as the right thrust lever was above the "idle" setting required for automatic spoiler deployment.
Congonhas
Amazon Basin
The Amazon Basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries that drains an area of about , or roughly 40 percent of South America. The basin is located in the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela...
of Gol Transportes Aéreos
Gol Transportes Aéreos
Gol Transportes Aéreos is a Brazilian airline based in Comandante Lineu Gomes Square, São Paulo City, Brazil....
Flight 1907
Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907
Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907 was a Boeing 737-8EH, registration PR-GTD, on a scheduled passenger flight from Manaus, Brazil, to Rio de Janeiro. On 29 September 2006, just before 17:00 BRT, it collided in midair with an Embraer Legacy business jet over the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso...
and an Embraer Legacy 600 (see Brazil's 2006-2007 aviation crisis). Congonhas was singled out for having safety issues relating to operations in wet weather due to its location and runway characteristics for the traffic it serves.
The 35L runway at Congonhas is 1,940 metres (6,365 feet) long. Congonhas' counterpart in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
, the Santos Dumont Airport, has an even shorter runway, at 1,323 metres (4,341 ft). Both airports receive the same type of traffic — ranging from small private planes to Boeing 737s and A320s. Many variables affect the landing distance of an aircraft, such as approach speed, weight and the presence of either a tailwind or a headwind. For an Airbus A320, a speed of just 20 knots higher than normal can result in as much as a 25% increase in the runway length needed to stop an aircraft. Wet weather can also significantly reduce the braking performance of aircraft, leading to an increase in the minimum runway length requirement.
Pilots have called Congonhas airport the "aircraft carrier," because of the runway's short length and because pilots are told to take off again and fly around if they overshoot the first 1,000 feet of runway.
In February 2007, a Brazilian judge briefly banned flights using Fokker 100, Boeing 737-700
Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
and Boeing 737-800 aircraft in and out of the airport. The Airbus A320
Airbus A320
The Airbus A320 family is a family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger jet airliners manufactured by Airbus Industrie.Airbus was originally a consortium of European aerospace companies, and is now fully owned by EADS. Airbus's name has been Airbus SAS since 2001...
was not among the aircraft banned, due to its manufacturer-stated braking distance
Braking distance
Braking distance refers to the distance a vehicle will travel from the point where its brakes are fully applied to when it comes to a complete stop...
being shorter than those of the banned aircraft. Pilots had complained that water had been accumulating on the runway, reducing aircraft braking performance and occasionally causing planes to hydroplane
Hydroplaning (road vehicle)
Aquaplaning or hydroplaning by the tires of a road vehicle, aircraft or sometimes roller coaster occurs when a layer of water builds between the rubber tires of the vehicle and the road surface, leading to the loss of traction and thus preventing the vehicle from responding to control inputs such...
. The judge claimed the runway needed to be 388 metres (1,275 ft) longer for these aircraft to operate safely. At the time, a spokeswoman from Brazil's National Civil Aviation Agency claimed "The safety conditions of the runway and the airport as a whole are adequate." TAM also objected to the decision, with a spokesman stating "If the injunction stands, it will cause total chaos," claiming over 10,000 passengers per day would be inconvenienced. The airport authorities appealed the decision, resulting in it being overturned the following day. An appeals court overruled the ban on the three types of planes, saying it was too harsh as it would have severe economic ramifications and that there were not enough safety concerns to prevent the planes from landing and taking off from the airport. "The runway was reopened because of popular pressure," Gianfranco Beting, an aviation consultant, said in a TV interview.
Aftermath
The airport reopened on July 19 using an alternative runway.Many flights, including all OceanAir
OceanAir
Avianca Brazil , trademark of Oceanair Linhas Aéreas S/A, is a Brazilian airline based in São Paulo, Brazil. It operates passenger services from 23 destinations. Its main base is Guarulhos International Airport, São Paulo. Even though the legal name of the airline remains OceanAir, Avianca ...
and BRA Transportes Aéreos
BRA Transportes Aéreos
BRA Transportes Aéreos was a short-life Brazilian low-fare airline based in São Paulo, Brazil, which used to operate both domestic and international scheduled services, as well as charter flights. Its main base was São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport...
, were transferred to Guarulhos International Airport
Guarulhos International Airport
São Paulo/Guarulhos – Governador André Franco Montoro International Airport , formerly called Cumbica Airport after the district where it is located and the Air Force Base that still exists at the airport complex, is the main airport serving São Paulo, Brazil. It is located in the adjoining...
, the major airport in São Paulo, due to the closure of the main runway at Congonhas and the ongoing investigation of the accident.
On July 20, Presidency Chief of Staff
Chief of Staff of Brazil
The Chief of Staff of the Presidency of the Republic is the highest-ranking member of the Executive Office of Brazil, and a senior aide to the President.In Brazil, the Chief of Staff is a member of the president's cabinet, with the rank of Minister....
Dilma Rousseff
Dilma Rousseff
Dilma Vana Rousseff is the 36th and current President of Brazil. She is the first woman to hold the office. Prior to that, in 2005, she was also the first woman to become Chief of Staff of Brazil, appointed by then President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva....
announced plans to significantly reduce the number of flights operating at Congonhas. The plan included banning, within 60 days, all connection, stopover, charter, and international flights and the reduction in the number of private jets. The airport would only operate direct flights to certain cities in Brazil. The plan also called for a study of the expansion of São Paulo's two current airports and the construction of a third airport in the metropolitan area.
State crime scene investigators terminated the search for remains on July 28, 2007; as of that date, 114 bodies recovered from the site had been identified by the São Paulo Medical Examiner's Office as those of passengers.
Investigation
The investigation was carried out by Brazil's Aeronautical Accidents Investigation and Prevention Center (Centro de Investigação e Prevenção de Acidentes Aeronáuticos, CENIPA). Data from the flight data recorderFlight data recorder
A flight data recorder is an electronic device employed to record any instructions sent to any electronic systems on an aircraft. It is a device used to record specific aircraft performance parameters...
and cockpit voice recorder
Cockpit voice recorder
A cockpit voice recorder , often referred to as a "black box", is a flight recorder used to record the audio environment in the flight deck of an aircraft for the purpose of investigation of accidents and incidents...
(CVR) were downloaded by the National Transportation Safety Board
National Transportation Safety Board
The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incidents, certain types of highway crashes, ship and marine...
in the United States commencing July 20 and July 23 respectively. Based on preliminary data from the FDR, on July 25 Airbus cautioned A320 operators to ensure that both thrust levers are set to idle during flare. The transcript of the CVR was released on August 1. It shows that the pilots were aware of the wet runway conditions and the deactivated thrust reverser. The pilots' comments suggest that the spoilers did not deploy and that they were unable to slow the aircraft. Crew error has not been ruled out.
An investigation by the Brazilian Public Safety Ministry released in November 2008 concluded that the pilots mistakenly retarded only the left engine to idle, because the right one had no thrust reverser working when in fact it was necessary to retard both engines in order for the spoilers to work. They also said that the National Civil Aviation Agency should have closed the airport on the night the plane landed because of heavy rains; that Congonhas airport authorities shared the blame because its runway had not been properly constructed with grooves to drain away excess rainwater, contributing to the crash; that the plane's manufacturer, Airbus, should have provided alarms warning the pilots that the braking system was failing; and that TAM failed to properly train its pilots, who did not act correctly in the emergency.
Final Report
In September 2009, more than two years after the accident, the Aeronautical Accidents Investigation and Prevention Center (CENIPA) announced the results of official investigations. The report shows that one of the thrust levers, which control engines, was in position to accelerate when it should be in idle, but it was not proved if there was mechanical or human failure as the cause of the accident.The report suggests two hypotheses for the accident. In the first, there was a flaw in the power control of the plane's engines, which would have kept one of the thrust levers into acceleration, regardless of their actual position. In such circumstances, there was mechanical failure of the aircraft. In the second hypothesis, the pilot has performed a procedure different from that provided in the manual, and put the thrust lever in an irregular position, a configuration of human error for the accident.
In addition to the positions of the thrust levers, the report points several factors that may have contributed to the accident, as a high volume of rain on the day, with the formation of puddles on the runway, as well as the absence of grooving. The report does not blame the length of the runway as responsible for the accident.
Response
After the crash, President LulaLuiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva , known popularly as Lula, served as the 35th President of Brazil from 2003 to 2010.A founding member of the Workers' Party , he ran for President three times unsuccessfully, first in the 1989 election. Lula achieved victory in the 2002 election, and was inaugurated as...
of Brazil ordered three days of national mourning
National day of mourning
A national day of mourning is a day marked by mourning and memorial activities observed among the majority of a country's populace. They are designated by that nation's government...
.
Several countries and organisations offered their condolences: Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, East Timor
East Timor
The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, commonly known as East Timor , is a state in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor...
, Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
, the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, Oman
Oman
Oman , officially called the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
, Vatican City
Vatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
and Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
.
During the 2007 Pan American Games
2007 Pan American Games
The 2007 Pan American Games, officially known as the XV Pan American Games, were a major continental multi-sport event that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 13 to July 29, 2007. A total of 5,633 athletes from 42 National Olympic Committees competed in 332 events in 34 sports and in...
in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
, the Brazilian athletes wore a black armband in remembrance of the victims. The flags of all participating countries were flown at half mast on July 18. Matches involving a Brazilian athlete or team started with a minute of silence.
All matches of the Campeonato Brasileiro 2007
Campeonato Brasileiro 2007
Campeonato Brasileiro 2007 may refer to the following things:*Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 2007*Campeonato Brasileiro Série B 2007*Campeonato Brasileiro Série C 2007...
started with a minute of silence, while all players wore black armbands. Brazilian Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
driver Felipe Massa
Felipe Massa
Felipe Massa is a Brazilian Formula One racing driver. He finished second in the Drivers' World Championship, and is under contract to race for Scuderia Ferrari until the end of the season.-Early years:...
had a black stripe on top of his helmet during the 2007 European Grand Prix
2007 European Grand Prix
The 2007 European Grand Prix was the tenth race of the 2007 Formula One season. It was held from 20 to July 22 at the Nürburgring....
, to commemorate the victims. Rubens Barrichello
Rubens Barrichello
Rubens Gonçalves "Rubinho" Barrichello is a Brazilian Formula One racing driver. He is currently racing for Williams F1.Barrichello has scored the seventh highest points total in Formula One history. Barrichello drove for Ferrari from to , as Michael Schumacher's teammate, enjoying considerable...
also had stripes on his helmet, and the two Red Bull Racing
Red Bull Racing
Red Bull Racing is a Formula One racing team based in Milton Keynes, England which currently holds an Austrian licence. It is, along with Scuderia Toro Rosso, one of two teams owned by beverage company Red Bull GmbH. The team have won two Constructors' Championship titles, in and , becoming the...
drivers David Coulthard
David Coulthard
David Marshall Coulthard, MBE, , sometimes known as DC, is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland.Coulthard, who was born in Dumfries and raised nearby in Twynholm, made his Formula One debut in 1994 and won 13 Grands Prix in a career spanning 15 seasons...
and Mark Webber
Mark Webber
Mark Alan Webber is an Australian Formula One driver.After some racing success in Australia, Webber moved to the United Kingdom in 1995 to further his motorsport career...
had small Brazilian flags on their helmets referring to the accident.
More than 5,000 Brazilians marched to the crash site on July 29, 2007, blaming their government's failure to invest in airport infrastructure for the crash. Many of the protesters also demanded the ousting of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva , known popularly as Lula, served as the 35th President of Brazil from 2003 to 2010.A founding member of the Workers' Party , he ran for President three times unsuccessfully, first in the 1989 election. Lula achieved victory in the 2002 election, and was inaugurated as...
.
Notable passengers
Among the passengers were:- Júlio RedeckerJúlio RedeckerJúlio César Redecker was a Brazilian politician and a member of the current opposition party, PSDB. Redecker was the leader of the minority in the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies. Redecker died in the TAM Airlines Flight 3054 crash. He was married and had three children.-External links:* from the...
(aged 51), a Brazilian Social Democracy PartyBrazilian Social Democracy PartyThe Brazilian Social Democracy Party is a centrist political party in Brazil. Originally a centre-left party at the time of its foundation, PSDB moved to the centre after Fernando Henrique Cardoso forged an alliance with the right-wing Liberal...
federal politician, member and leader of the opposition in the Chamber of Deputies of BrazilChamber of Deputies of BrazilThe Chamber of Deputies of Brazil is a federal legislative body and the lower house of the National Congress of Brazil. As of 2006, the chamber comprises 513 deputies, who are elected by proportional representation to serve four-year terms...
. - Paulo Rogério Amoretty SouzaPaulo Rogério Amoretty SouzaPaulo Rogério Amoretty Souza was a Brazilian lawyer and former chairman of the association football team Sport Club Internacional. He was born in Porto Alegre. Prior to his death he was an attorney for Sport Club Corinthians Paulista. He was married and had two sons, both of whom are...
(aged 61), former chairman of the football team Sport Club InternacionalSport Club InternacionalSport Club Internacional is a Brazilian football team and multi-sport club from Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, founded on April 4, 1909, and are one of the only five clubs to have never been relegated, along with Santos, São Paulo, Flamengo and Cruzeiro. They play in red shirts, white shorts and...
and attorney for Sport Club Corinthians PaulistaSport Club Corinthians PaulistaSport Club Corinthians Paulista, commonly just known as Corinthians , is a Brazilian football club based in the city of São Paulo. They play in the São Paulo state league, as well as the Brasileirão, Brazil's top national league...
.
Dramatization
MaydayMayday (TV series)
Mayday, also known as Air Crash Investigation in the United Kingdom, Australia and Asia and Air Emergency and Air Disasters in the United States, is a Canadian documentary television programme produced by Cineflix investigating air crashes, near-crashes and other disasters...
(Also known as Air Crash Investigation in the UK, Australia and Asia and Air Emergency or Air Disasters in the United States) produced a one hour docudrama about the crash. The episode was entitled "Deadly Reputation".
See also
- Brazil's 2006-2007 aviation crisis
- Engineered materials arrestor systemEngineered Materials Arrestor SystemAn engineered materials arrestor system or engineered materials arresting system is a bed of engineered materials built at the end of a runway. Engineered materials are defined in FAA Advisory Circular No 150/5220-22A as "high energy absorbing materials of selected strength, which will reliably...
- Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907 was a Boeing 737-8EH, registration PR-GTD, on a scheduled passenger flight from Manaus, Brazil, to Rio de Janeiro. On 29 September 2006, just before 17:00 BRT, it collided in midair with an Embraer Legacy business jet over the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso...
- List of notable accidents and incidents on commercial aircraft
- Philippine Airlines Flight 137Philippine Airlines Flight 137Philippine Airlines Flight 137 was a scheduled passenger flight from Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport to Bacolod City Domestic Airport.-March 22, 1998 accident:...
- Runway safety areaRunway safety areaA runway safety area or runway end safety area is defined as "the surface surrounding the runway prepared or suitable for reducing the risk of damage to airplanes in the event of an undershoot, overshoot, or excursion from the runway."Past standards called for the RSA to extend only 60m from the...
- TACA Flight 390TACA Flight 390TACA Flight 390 was a scheduled flight on May 30, 2008, by TACA Airlines from San Salvador, El Salvador, to Miami, Florida, United States, with intermediate stops at Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula in Honduras...
- TAM Transportes Aéreos Regionais Flight 402TAM Transportes Aéreos Regionais Flight 402TAM Transportes Aéreos Regionais Flight 402 was a Fokker 100 airliner, operating as a scheduled domestic flight from Congonhas/São Paulo International Airport in São Paulo, Brazil to Santos Dumont Airport in Rio de Janeiro on October 31, 1996, which crashed shortly after take-off, killing a total...
- Air France Flight 358Air France Flight 358Air France Flight 358, a flight from Paris, France, to Toronto, Canada, using an Airbus A340 airliner, departed Paris without incident at 11:53 UTC 2 August 2005, later touching down on runway 24L-06R at Toronto Pearson International Airport at 20:01 UTC...
- American Airlines Flight 331American Airlines Flight 331American Airlines Flight 331 was a scheduled international flight from Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington DC to Kingston, Jamaica, via Miami, carrying 148 passengers and six crew, which overran the runway during a landing hampered by poor weather...
- American Airlines Flight 1420American Airlines Flight 1420American Airlines Flight 1420 was a flight from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport to Little Rock National Airport in USA. On June 1, 1999, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82 overran the runway upon landing in Little Rock and crashed...
- Henan Airlines Flight 8387Henan Airlines Flight 8387Henan Airlines Flight 8387 was a flight from Harbin Taiping International Airport to the new Yichun Lindu Airport, both located in Heilongjiang province, China. On the night of August 24, 2010 it crashed on approach to Yichun Lindu with 91 passengers and 5 crew members on board...
- Lufthansa Flight 2904Lufthansa Flight 2904Lufthansa Flight 2904 was an Airbus A320-200 which overran the runway, in Okęcie International Airport on 14 September 1993. It was a flight from Frankfurt, Germany to Warsaw, Poland.-Description of the incident:...
- Air India Express Flight 812Air India Express Flight 812Air India Express Flight 812 was a scheduled passenger service from Dubai to Mangalore which at around 01:00 UTC on 22 May 2010, overshot the runway on landing, fell over a cliff and caught fire, spreading wreckage across the surrounding hillside...
External links
- CENIPACenipaCenipa can refer to:*Centro de Investigação e Prevenção de Acidentes Aeronáuticos*A species of Canidae...
- TAM Airlines
- Comunicados TAM (Press releases from TAM regarding the incident)
- TAM Informa (Material from TAM Airlines about the incident)
- Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la Sécurité de l'Aviation CivileBureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la sécurité de l'Aviation CivileThe Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la Sécurité de l'Aviation Civile is an agency of the French government, responsible for investigating aviation accidents and making safety recommendations based on what is learned from those investigations. It is headquartered in Building 153 on the grounds...
- Press Release - German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Investigation
- In pictures: Brazil plane crash (BBC)
- Video from Congonhas airport security camera, comparing a normal landing with TAM flight 3054's landing
- The World's Worst Airline - Elizabeth Spiers
- Plane Crashes in Brazil
- List of passengers on Flight 3054
- Photographs