Updated on Nov.14, 2008
Air travel safety in Brazil has been a subject of concern since the two plane crashes with the highest death toll in the history of Brazilian aviation happened within less than a year.
The largest accident in number of victims in Brazil - the crash of TAM Flight 3054 on July 17, 2007, at Congonhas Airport in São Paulo - killled 199 people and two unborn children. One year after the crash, the Association of Families and Friends of Flight 3054 Victims (AfavTAM) questioned measures taken to improve safety at Congonhas Airport.
Amidst the cycle of events held to honor the memory of the victims, AfavTAM president Dario Scott, who lost his 14-year-old daughter Thais in the crash, expressed the association's concerns regarding safety factors such as the length of the Congonhas runway and the airport's capacity.
In an interview to Agência Brasil, Scott criticized governmental agencies Conac, Anac and Infraero for changing a September 2007 decision to limit flights to and from Congonhas to distances under 1,000 kilometers. That limit has been expanded to 1,500 kilometers.
Defense Minister Nelson Jobim affirmed that the peak of the air travel crisis in Brazil is past, which allowed the government to review some decisions.
AfavTAM has pressed authorities for a conclusive report about criminal responsibilites in the crash. After one year of investigations and a process of almost 13,000 pages, nobody has been indicted. Authorities estimate a final report will be ready in October 2008.
Moreover, AfavTAM has become a advocate group for more safety in Brazil air travel, keeping constant track of official decisions and demanding solutions. A crisis in air travel in Brazil became evident after the second largest plane crash in the country in number of victims - the collision between the Boeing in Gol flight 1907 and a Legacy jet from ExcelAire, on September 29, 2006. The crash killed 154 people.
At the time, conflicts between the military and civil administration of air travel and inadequate work conditions in air traffic control were exposed. In July 2008, eight air traffic controllers who mutinied for better work conditions in March 2007 were sentenced by a military court to terms ranging from two months to two and a half years.
In July 2008, according to Folha Online a New York court ruled that the trial of Flight 1907 must take place in Brazil, a decision which made it more difficult for families of the victims to bring the Legacy pilots and American companies involved to trial.
While fighting for justice, the Association of Families and Friends of the Victims of Flight 1907 has also taken great strides in bringing air travel safety issues to public attention. The association has been instrumental in the demand for government action.
What Has Changed in Brazil Air Travel
Even though specialists agree that there are still issues to be solved in Brazil air travel, some measures put into effect have had a positive result. In an interview to UOL published on July 17, 2008, one year after the TAM crash, Cláudio Jorge Pinto, a professor at ITA (Technological Institute of Aeronautics), said that one of them is a closer integration of Anac, Decea and Infraero, key governmental agencies in Brazil air travel.
Soon after the crash, a number of Anac officials were fired. The Minister of Defense and the president of Infraero were replaced.
Flight delays at Brazilian airports have been partially controlled since July 2007, when 42.7% of flights were over 30 minutes late, according to Anac data. In July 2008, an average 19.6% of flights were over 30 minutes late.
Still in the UOL interview, Cláudio Jorge Pinto and Gianfranco Beting, Marketing Director for Azul - David G. Neeleman's airline, which will start operations in January 2009 - said that improvements in Brazil air travel require an expansion in the capacity of Brazilian airports and the building of a third airport in São Paulo.
While greater changes are not implemented, travelers must be aware that, especially during high season, delays of over two hours are still a possible hassle at Brazilian airports.
TAM Flight 3054 Crash Investigation Report Released
Nov.14, 2008
Conclusions in the TAM Flight 3054 crash investigation report by São Paulo's Instituto de Criminalística were released to the press today, after 16 months of work.
According to OESP, the report concludes that the plane crash was caused by a series of errors at different decision levels.
Although it confirms that the left thrust lever was in full reverse while the right thrust lever was in "climb", the final report, signed by Antonio de Carvalho Nogueira Neto, affirms pilots were not properly trained by TAM, were not adequately informed about runway conditions, and lacked an alarm, not installed in the Airbus, which could have warned them of improper throttle handling.
After using Reason's Swiss Cheese Model of human error, the report pointed out that Anac (National Civil Aviation Agency)'s responsibility lies in the fact that it didn't issue a norm preventing airplanes from landing in Congonhas in such adverse meteorological conditions.
According to the report, Infraero, responsible for airport infrastructure, allowed the runway to be used with insufficient grooving, and failed to follow international norms in runway management.
Ten people, whose names have not been revealed, should be indicted in the TAM Flight 3054 crash, including former Anac top staff.
