A plane with as many as 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 deaths by authorities, but a witness said he saw one charred body as flames shot into the sky and clouds of black smoke billowed into the air after the crash.

 

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.

 

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."

 

Jesus said he saw one charred body, and Globo TV reported that at least eight people were being treated for injuries. It was not clear whether they were passengers or had been in the building.

 

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. The government-run Agencia Brasil news agency said there were 170 passengers and eight crew members on the jet.

 

"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.

 

The crash highlighted Brazil's increasing aviation woes, as a surge in travelers overwhelms underfunded air traffic control systems. 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.

 

Controllers?concerned about being made scapegoats?have engaged in strikes and work slowdowns to raise safety concerns, causing or exacerbating lengthy delays and cancelations.

 

Angry travelers have stormed airline check-in counters and runways in Brazil, and fistfights have broken out in waiting areas.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8...;show_article=1

It's these avoidable accidents that are the worst...

Brazil really needs to work on their air safety. There is absolutly no excuse for this incidence. The thing that really angers me about this story is that my father is a commercial airline pilot who flies in and out of Sao Paulo about a dozen times per year. This very well could've happened to an American carrier, and then the Brazil aviation authorities would really be getting hell. You don't have planes using runways that short in rainy weather, seriously some people need to be fired and new safety regulations are needed.

Accidents like this certainly don't encourage me to fly to other countries.

Accidents like this certainly don't encourage me to fly to other countries.

 

As long as you fly with the well known airlines you are all set.

 

The last few crashes that there have been have invovled TAM, GOL, some airline in Kenya, and two sh*tty airlines in Russia. When was the last time a "good" airline had an accident?

I know he wasnt in Brazil but didnt Dodge fly somewhere today?

Yes, luckily for him this happened after he flew.

Accidents like this certainly don't encourage me to fly to other countries.

 

As long as you fly with the well known airlines you are all set.

 

The last few crashes that there have been have invovled TAM, GOL, some airline in Kenya, and two sh*tty airlines in Russia. When was the last time a "good" airline had an accident?

 

 

 

"The Origins Of A Jinx" by Jets Mania

 

 

You fly a plane certified by the FAA and you are as safe as you are ever going to get in life.

The accident was in the ground. Appaerently, people in a factory also died. So sad.

Now they are saying the total dead is almost 200.

I am flying to London tomorrow.

I am flying to London tomorrow.

 

Why worry? If you have a problem, I will gladly take your spot.

 

You will be on an FAA certified airline so you have nothing to worry about. If you get scared just remind yourself that its to expensive for the plane to crash.

I am flying to London tomorrow.

 

Why worry? If you have a problem, I will gladly take your spot.

 

You will be on an FAA certified airline so you have nothing to worry about. If you get scared just remind yourself that its to expensive for the plane to crash.

 

Or that you would likely die within seconds if it explodes.

I am flying to London tomorrow.

So? Shouldn't that be a ?

While I do agree that air travel is much safer than automobile travel, some of you are overstating the safety of air travel.

 

Airports (domestic ones) have a large number of near misses (they have some politically correct name for them which escapes me at the moment). They had one airplane nearly land on top of another one a few weeks ago (in this country).

 

And talk to a pilot or an airline attendant and ask them how good airport security is.

 

:wacko

While I do agree that air travel is much safer than automobile travel, some of you are overstating the safety of air travel.

 

Airports (domestic ones) have a large number of near misses (they have some politically correct name for them which escapes me at the moment). They had one airplane nearly land on top of another one a few weeks ago (in this country).

 

And talk to a pilot or an airline attendant and ask them how good airport security is.

 

:wacko

 

How many near misses are there in cars every day? Cars are MUCH more dangerous than airplanes, it just bigger news when something happens to a plane.

He knows that, hence his first statement. It's just that people should never say never, it's inevitable that at some point there will be another crash with a well-known airline (even if it's minor) and I bet the people inside that plane aren't gonna be holding their breath either.

 

I remember like 10 years ago...my mom and I were boarding to go back to Germany and all of the sudden they evacuated us all out and said they found a major malfunction and that we'd have to stay another night. Obviously we're way more advanced in inspections nowadays but that was still pretty scary considering how last minute it was found.

This could have happened to AA. The ground was really wet and that airport is right next to the city. It is the worst one in all of Brasil.

He knows that, hence his first statement. It's just that people should never say never, it's inevitable that at some point there will be another crash with a well-known airline (even if it's minor) and I bet the people inside that plane aren't gonna be holding their breath either.

 

I remember like 10 years ago...my mom and I were boarding to go back to Germany and all of the sudden they evacuated us all out and said they found a major malfunction and that we'd have to stay another night. Obviously we're way more advanced in inspections nowadays but that was still pretty scary considering how last minute it was found.

 

Nothing in life is 100% safe. You could die just crossing the street. While I do agree with you that something can and probably will happen again, the odds are very slim. I rememeber reading that there is an incident once every 3 million take offs in the united states (for example a the comair flight that took off on the wrong runway). If you get in your car 3 million times you will get in an accident.

 

The thing is that people have a fear of flying when its actually safer than a lot of things. Its crappy airlines with no safety standards that keep fueling everyone's fears.

This could have happened to AA. The ground was really wet and that airport is right next to the city. It is the worst one in all of Brasil.

 

That is true, the run way is short. However, they said that the pilot landed at a much faster speed than he was supposed to. The "good" airlines hire only the best pilots and have strict regulations so as to not be in this position.

Just a question: Is this runway shorter than Laguardia?

Just a question: Is this runway shorter than Laguardia?

http://us.airliners.net/photos/photos/3/8/9/1035983.jpg

Appaerently, the Brazilian soccer team, Gremio, Copa America sun-champions, was gonna fly in that plane, but for some reason, they didnt. Wow! I dont think theres a shorter runway. Ive been to an airport in Sao Paulo once but I think it was the other one.

My Aunt was on Eastern Airlines Flight 401. I was at the airport that night waiting with my family for her to arrive. She was on the last helicopter load of survivors. Everyone else they picked up after her were dead.

She's ok- she spent 8 months in the hospital and is now 84 years old. But it was without a doubt the most horrendous night of my life.