Crews Mistake Fuselage Segment For FDR; Actual Recorder Located

Just what, exactly, is happening in Brazil? That is a question the international community is asking, especially in the wake of this week's fatal runway overrun accident in Sao Paulo that claimed 191 lives... and a series of troubling discoveries, and unfortunate events in its wake.

MSNBC reports authorities in that country believed they had discovered the flight data recorder from the TAM Airlines A320, that ran off a rain-soaked runway at Congonhas Airport Tuesday. They even sent it away for testing... only to discover they had mistaken a piece of charred fuselage for the vital piece of equipment. The actual FDR was located Saturday.

Adding insult to injury, a radar outage lasting over two hours Saturday morning further shook confidence in Brazil's aviation industry. The outage, which authorities blamed on an electrical problem, forced several planes bound for Brazil to either turn back, or divert to other airports in Chile and Puerto Rico.

“This is total chaos here. I have never seen anything like it and it makes me feel very unsafe,” Eli Rocha, and American who was trying to board a flight to Dallas from Sao Paulo’s international airport, said of the situation on the ground at Congonhas.

Thirteen inbound American Airlines flights were diverted, along with four United flights, due to the outage (which, admittedly, is hardly a problem exclusive to Brazil -- several similar outages have plagued the US, as well.) Additional planes bound for Brazil from Colombia, Panama and Venezuela were affected, according to MSNBC.

Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva -- conspicuously absent from the public eye in the days following the accident -- appeared on Brazilian television Friday night, to calm a skittish public worried about the state, and safety, of the country's aviation industry.

"Our aviation system, in spite of the investments we have made in expansion and modernization of almost all Brazilian airports, is passing through difficulties," Silva said. "The security of our aviation system is compatible with all the international standards. We cannot lose sight of this."

Silva also announced new measures aimed at improving air safety around Sao Paulo... including limiting the maximum weight of aircraft allowed to operate from Congonhas' relatively short runways. He also announced a plan to build a new, safer airport to serve the capital city, adding a site could be chosen within the next 90 days.

That apparently came as a surprise to Sao Paulo Mayor Gilberto Kassab, however. He told reporters Saturday building an airport to replace Congonhas isn't a priority; rather, he plans to seize homes around the current airport through eminent domain, and extend the runways.

As ANN reported, the Brazilian aviation industry has been under intense scrutiny since last September's midair collision involving a Gol Airlines 737 and a corporate Embraer Legacy 600, that claimed all 154 persons onboard the airliner. In the weeks that followed that fatal accident, confusion reigned as the country's civil and military aviation authorities blamed the US pilots of the Embraer, as well as the country's air traffic controllers, for the accident.

Controllers responded with work slowdowns, which they claimed were meant to expose safety problems in the Brazilian ATC network. Investigations also showed areas without radar coverage over the country, due in part to old equipment, as well as flight controllers ill-versed in speaking English -- the universal language for air traffic control, worldwide.

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