One Thrust Reverser Inop At Time Of Crash

Strangely silent after what is said to be the worst air disaster in Brazilian history,
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's government is facing mounting criticism and anger that it failed to take action to prevent it.

In the days after a Brazilian airline TAM A320 skidded off a rain-slicked runway at Congonhas airport in Sao Paulo and crashed into a gas station and terminal, government officials appear to be looking the other way, not wanting to face the situation.

The Brazilian military controls civilian aviation in that country and is insisting it's not their fault, according to McClatchy News Service.

"This government is terrified," said political analyst Alexandre Barros. "Lula should have already said something to the country, but the reality is he has nothing to say."

The only action taken so far has been to close the runway involved in the accident although federal prosecutors have petitioned a court to close the airport altogether until all investigations are completed.

Federal prosecutor Marcio Schusterschitz said full blame for the accident should be firmly placed on aviation officials.

"What we want is that accidents don't happen again," he said. "The accident unhappily showed that more than money and rhetoric, the airport of Congonhas kills."

Brazil media reported Thursday night the A320's right thrust reverser was inoperable July 13. Video from airport security cameras shows the aircraft on the runway at a much faster speed than necessary for landing, prompting some to speculate the pilots may have been trying to take off again.

The Globo newscast said TAM did confirm the thruster wasn't working, but maintains the aircraft was sufficiently operational in spite of the problem.

Improvements such as cutting grooves on the runways to help with water runoff were in progress just prior to the accident and the main runway had recently been repaved. It is unknown why the main runway was allowed to reopen before the grooves had been cut, but there is speculation of political and airline pressure to reopen the runway because of economic issues.

The overwhelming theory standing water on the runway is what threw the TAM A320 into a skid. Congonhas is a one of the busiest airports in the country. Even though it only has the one major runway, more than 17 million passengers go through it every year pushing it past its capacity.

The airport's auxiliary runway was opened to air traffic the day after the accident.

At least five aircraft have skidded off that main runway in the past 16 months but none with casualties, according to McClatchy News Service.

There have been news reports asserting the airport authority Infraero buckled under pressure from the airlines using the airport to reopen the runway before it was ready, but a spokesman said Thursday the authority was just following orders from military commanders. 

The president of an airline workers union representing flight controllers, Jorge Carlos Botelho, said the Brazil's air traffic crisis will only be fixed if the entire system is placed under civilian control. He said the military's resistance to reform "aggravates" the problem.

"That runway should not have been used during rains without the grooving, but the profits of the airlines are more important now than safety," he said. "There's no transparency in the system we have now, and that's why these problems continue."

Lula reportedly called a meeting of ministers Thursday to find a way out of this mess is supposed to speak publicly for the first time Friday night. Media sources say Defense Minister Waldir Pires was not invited to the meeting.

Finance Minister Guido Mantego insists the Brazilian government, despite public perception otherwise, did respond properly to the crisis.

"If we look at the action of Infraero in the last years, practically all Brazilian airports were reformed and expanded," Mantego said. "It is a robust plan."

To a public that is still smarting from the September 29, 2006, mid-air collision over the Amazon that killed 154 people... this may be the last straw.

Air traffic has been in turmoil since flight controllers limited the number of aircraft monitored following the September accident leading to heavy flight delays and cancellations.

Despite the fact partial blame for that tragedy was placed on its controllers, Air Force Brig. Ramon Borges Cardoso said no major changes have been made to the air traffic control system.

"The government didn't do anything after the first crash, and so far they aren't doing anything after this latest one," said journalist Ivan Sant'Anna, who has written about Brazil's aviation system. "Sometimes it seems like Brazil doesn't have a government."

FMI: www.infraero.gov.br/usa, www.tam.com.br