TAM Airlines Flight 3054
Location: São Paulo, Brazil
Date: July 17, 2007
Aircraft: Airbus A320
TAM Airlines Flight 3054, originating in Porto Alegre, Brazil, attempted to land at Congonhas airport, Brazil’s busiest commercial airport, around evening rush hour on Tuesday, July 17, 2007. Due to several hours of rain, the newly paved runway appears to have been slick and slippery, an added obstacle to the airport’s already infamously short runway. It also appears that as the flight crew realized the aircraft was going to overshoot the runway, they accelerated in an effort to take off and re-attempt landing. Unfortunately, the plane slid off of the runway, continued across Washington Luiz Avenue in downtown São Paulo, and crashed into a fuel station and an adjacent building. The tail of the aircraft was the only part seen outside of the building – the remainder of the fuselage was inside the building and engulfed in flames. The 186 passengers and crew on board the aircraft perished in the crash and the ensuing fire, and three individuals on the ground were fatally wounded. An additional 11 bystanders were injured as a result of this crash. This crash is the worst in Brazilian history, and occurred only 10 months after Brazil’s second most deadly crash.
The accident aircraft, a nine year old Airbus A320, had only accrued approximately 20,000 flight hours for TAM Airlines, Brazil’s largest commercial airline. São Paulo, the most populous city in the Western hemisphere, is the hub for TAM Airlines, and Congonhas is the country’s busiest airport. Built in the 1930s, Congonhas handles approximately 18.5 million passengers a year, 50% more than its official capacity. The airport is located in downtown São Paulo, among several high rise buildings. The location of Congonhas is not the only landing obstacle for approaching aircraft. In addition, the often slippery accident runway is only 6,362 feet long. The runway at LaGuardia Airport in New York City, which handles the same type of aircraft as Congonhas, is approximately 1,000 feet longer. Pilots flying into Congonhas are warned that should they not touch down in the first 1,000 feet of the runway, that they should abort landing, circle around and try again. Pilots relate landing on the accident runway to landing on an aircraft carrier.
The day before the crash, two jets slipped off of the runway and only two days after this terrible tragedy, a second TAM Airlines flight pulled out of an attempted landing on the accident runway, further affirming federal prosecutors’ pleas for a court order to shut down the Congonhas airport until the investigation of this accident has been completed. As of July 19, 2007, the runway where the accident aircraft crashed will remain closed for 20 days, and will reopen only after complete inspection. This accident is not the only tragedy to strike just off of this Congonhas runway. In 1996, a TAM Airlines flight crashed shortly after takeoff, fatally injuring all 96 individuals aboard and three individuals on the ground.
In February 2007, a local court banned the use of Congonhas by Fokker 100, Boeing 737-800 and Boeing 737-700 jetliners due to the safety concerns of aircraft of their size landing on the unusually short runway. An appeals court overruled the ban shortly thereafter citing the economic ramifications which would be brought upon the city of São Paulo should the ban not be lifted. In the first quarter of 2007 alone, Congonhas was closed 18 times due to inclement weather. The runway, which was recently resurfaced, was scheduled to be “regrooved” by the end of July in order to assist in the drainage of rainwater.
A team from the United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has been deployed to aid in the investigation of this horrific accident. Representatives from Airbus have also arrived in Brazil in order to assist the Brazilian government.
The Motley Rice Aviation Team is reviewing this accident and the legal responsibility that TAM Airlines, Congonhas Airport, the City of São Paulo and the Government of Brazil may have to the families of the victims of this terrible tragedy.
If you or someone you know is interested in seeking legal recourse due to wrongful death or personal injury as a result of this accident, please contact Motley Rice Aviation attorney and former Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Mary Schiavo at (843) 216-9138 or toll free at 1-800-868-6456.