THE DEADLIEST AVIATION CRASH IN LATIN AMERICAN HISTORY
A TRAGEDY FORETOLD: FLIGHT 3054
I am Denise Abreu,
former director of ANAC,
who, in 2007,
at the time of the crash,
acted as the agency's vice president.
If you could say anything to Denise Abreu, what would you say?
To Denise Abreu?
I'd ask her to put herself
in the shoes of those who lost their loved ones.
I would ask her
how she can even sleep at night.
As you know, many family members see you as one of those responsible.
If you could say something to them, what would it be?
I can only regret that they still fail to realize
that…
they've been manipulated
into believing
that one single person is to blame.
RESPECT LIFE
WHO KILLED OUR KIDS?
TAM PROFIT AT ALL COSTS KILLS
RESPECT
Many joined the victims' families, using the pain as fuel for their fight.
We carried out protests every month.
Respect!
Several movements joined our protests.
AT SÉ, "I'M TIRED" TURNED INTO "LULA OUT!"
The spotlight was on us.
AUGUST 17TH SHOW YOUR OUTRAGE WITH A MINUTE OF SILENCE
And all of those movements wanted
some of that spotlight on them as well.
I didn't lose anyone, but the whole country's hurting.
We've had enough! This must end!
We also had a meeting with the then-Governor Yeda Crusius.
"How are you organized?" And I asked, "What do you mean?"
"Without an association, you guys don't have a leg to stand on."
That meeting took place in August, which was a month later.
In October, AFAVITAM was founded.
ASSOCIATION OF FAMILIES AND FRIENDS OF TAM FLIGHT JJ3054'S VICTIMS
Truth!
Justice!
Truth!
"Life, Truth, and Justice" was our motto.
WE WANT TRUTH AND JUSTICE
We wanted the truth, period.
And justice, as in severe punishment,
to those who could have avoided this tragedy.
ANAC's director's excessive calm bothered some congressmen.
Your calm and placid demeanor reminds me more of a TAM flight attendant.
Do you recall the day you got the Santos Dumont medal?
Absolutely.
It was three days after the crash.
However, for some reason, although there were five directors,
the public was only affronted by a woman receiving the medal.
The National Civil Aviation Agency confirmed a crash involving a GOL plane
and a Legacy executive jet.
It was your first time on national TV.
But not the last.
Many of my coworkers told me,
"Denise, don't go. You're overexposing yourself."
In the end, it was all indeed used against me.
Things I never said were taken as true without any proof.
"WHAT DID YOU EXPECT? BODIES?"
I have absolutely zero regrets.
Even after being slapped in the face by one of the mothers.
People defended me, but I said, "It's fine."
"I would've done worse."
Flight delays were the so-called Aviation Blackout, right?
They closed the airspace. There was no way to fly.
"I was photographed hours after the riot,
and exposed to the nation as a cold-hearted woman,
unbothered by the challenges faced by those who rely on civil aviation."
Unfortunately, a picture is worth a thousand words.
And so their weapon of choice was a picture of a woman smoking a cigar,
which, during those times and in the military world,
amounted to almost an unforgivable crime.
It's important to understand the context the country was in.
We came out of a dictatorship.
It had taken us years to build a Department of Defense,
now overseen by the government, instead of the military.
JOURNALIST
The Brazilian Civil Aviation had never been run by a woman before.
A woman managing an airspace control that was 100% militarized.
Imagine how they felt having to salute a woman.
They'd say, "She has no clue." "She has no aviation background."
"We're the ones who make good managers."
They like to call you "darling" a lot.
Condescendingly, as if saying, "You've still got a lot to learn."
I learned from experts in Public Administration
how to delegate tasks
and to be assertive when demanding results.
That can be interpreted as having a "bulldozer style."
Although that may be true, depending on the point of view.
Just as much as she exaggerated the role she played,
they also exaggerated her responsibility.
But she did make sure the spotlight was on her.
What were you accused of, Denise? Could you sum it up?
The investigation covers 5,400 pages.
Three hundred people have been interviewed so far.
The police, the Federal Prosecution Office,
and representatives of the victims' families
met to assess the course of the investigations.
We are on the right path, for sure.
My name is Mário Luiz Sarrubbo.
Back in 2007,
Back then, I was serving as the First Criminal Prosecutor
at the Jabaquara Court.
When it comes to a plane crash, several investigations are carried out.
One of them being by CENIPA, the Air Force's aviation authority.
It has the sole and exclusive purpose
of finding out the causes of a crash,
in order to prevent them from ever happening again.
Meanwhile, the investigation conducted by the state's Civil Police,
the Federal Police, the Federal Prosecution Office, and so on,
focuses on identifying the culprits in order to hold them accountable.
One of our lines of investigation
is that the runway may have contributed to the crash.
The issue with the runway was argued more passionately
because there had been previous reports, even from the day before…
FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR
…of aircraft skidding off on that same runway.
So everything pointed out to the runway playing a major role.
Over the last four years, six planes skidded off the runway in Congonhas.
The runway was indeed in very poor shape.
FORENSIC EXPERT
There were always reports on planes getting their tires blown out.
Five months before TAM's Airbus crashed, the Federal Prosecutor's Office
had warned that a plane could crash onto the avenue by the airport.
Amid all this,
a Term of Adjustment of Conduct was agreed upon,
in which the Prosecutor's Office required resurfacing
and grooving work on both runways at Congonhas.
The first phase of the project lasted 45 days,
during which the old asphalt was removed,
the runway angle was corrected, and new asphalt was laid down.
Even though the project was in full swing, school break was approaching,
so they decided to allow planes to land there again.
The runway was reopened without the grooving,
which helps with water drainage.
Since July is usually a dry month anyway, the runway wouldn't get too slippery.
However,
it started raining.
And it did not stop. It rained on Monday, on Tuesday…
Entries in the ATC logbook
show that, one day before the crash,
three aircraft had to execute a go-around.
and eight reported that the runway was slippery.
1 DAY BEFORE THE ACCIDENT
One day before the TAM plane crash,
a Pantanal Airline plane skidded off when landing on the main runway.
The Pantanal plane skidding off the runway the day before
might have been a very clear warning
that was disregarded by authorities.
On July 16th, 2007, I was assigned to aircraft Mike Bravo Kilo.
It was the next plane,
right after Pantanal's ATR ended up on the grass…
PILOT
…to approach Congonhas.
I could see the damaged aircraft on the grass.
I came in for landing.
As I touched down,
the plane started skidding off.
And it skidded off a lot. I struggled to bring the plane to a halt.
Ultimately, the copilot said, "It's slowing down."
We were able to stop almost at the edge.
Could you give us a ballpark in meters?
In meters?
I'd say about one meter.
Yeah.
After that, there was just a cliff
and all the gravel at the end of the threshold.
BRASÍLIA AIRPORT DAY OF THE CRASH
Now, this story is hauntingly impressive.
On that very same day, July 17th, 2007,
ANAC's team had a meeting in São Paulo
to go over the runway conditions.
So the ANAC's directors left earlier in the day
on that very same TAM airplane.
It was the same exact aircraft.
The same one that, at 6 p.m.,
would explode in a crash here in Congonhas.
Of course a lot goes through your head after that.
Was it sabotage? What are the facts?
It wasn't my time, but it very much could've been.
At 5:04 that afternoon,
a GOL airplane alerted the control tower that the runway was slippery.
Three minutes later, landings and takeoffs were suspended.
The water level on the runway was checked, and the runway was reopened at 5:30 p.m.
From then until the time of the crash,
40 airplanes landed on the runway without any issues.
When the TAM airplane touched down,
the rainfall index was at 0.6 millimeters,
putting it below light rain levels according to international standards,
which are between one and five millimeters.
This information was shared over and over again.
That the level of the water was at just 0.6 millimeters
on the Congonhas runway.
It was barely a drizzle.
According to Infraero employees, there was no standing water on the runway.
The runway was wet, but there was no standing water.
Reason why they ended up reopening it.
The tires were also inspected, and there was no sign of hydroplaning.
Whether the problem lies with the runway, its suitability,
or even the airport itself, that's a deeper discussion.
However, when it comes to the actual crash,
it doesn't seem like the runway played a major role.
The data from the aircraft's black boxes,
along with communication recordings between pilots and the control tower
are now with investigators.
Congressman Marco Maia, who leads the inquiry,
opened the envelopes with the documents
and the CD containing the transcript of the communication between the pilots,
which was recorded by the plane's black boxes.
TAM approaching at two miles. Please, confirm conditions.
What was the impact of the black box data?
It was surely a huge surprise.
JULY 17TH, 2007
6:18 P.M.
BLACK BOX AUDIO
CAPTAIN KLEYBER LIMA CAPTAIN HENRIQUE STEPHANINI
A passenger wants to know where we'll land.
I just said it.
Sorry, I didn't hear it.
-She heard it, though. Congonhas. -Congonhas?
They had just reopened the airport after the rain in São Paulo.
Depending on the conditions, the flight could be rerouted to Guarulhos.
From his conversation with the tower,
you could tell the pilot was worried.
Ask them if it's raining in São Paulo.
Control, could you inform TAM 3054 whether it's raining in Congonhas?
Runway is wet and slippery. Runway 35L is clear, 3054.
"Wet and slippery."
And he repeats that.
The black box showed he repeated that with some concern.
"Wet and slippery."
He was concerned about the runway.
Especially when he knew it had been closed
right before they were cleared to land there.
CONGONHAS AIRPORT
They could have landed at another airport.
The captain has the last word.
He could've said, "I won't land here, period."
But it's not that simple.
Once I land that plane in Congonhas,
it's already set to fly to its next destination.
But if I land that plane in Guarulhos, now it won't be able to follow the plan.
That's a problem for the flight network.
During that time,
we were also facing the Aviation Blackout.
Most airlines, not just TAM,
didn't like having their flights rerouted.
So they pressured the pilots.
The pilots, the flight attendants…
Everybody was under immense pressure.
Everybody was at their limit with work.
Oh, boy.
I've got a headache. I don't know why.
It's the time of day.
-You think so? -Yeah.
The change in weather too.
We were always tired. We used to fly a lot.
All within the law.
Was it legal? Yes. But was it morally right? Maybe not.
We are pilots, but we're also human.
Captains Kleyber Lima and Henrique Stephanini di Sacco
were very experienced pilots.
They had over 13,000 hours of flight time,
which equals to 20 years in the aviation field.
In fact, we had two pilots. Not a pilot and a copilot.
It's a different ball game.
Due to that huge crisis, there was a crew shortage.
TAM didn't have enough copilots.
CAPTAIN KLEYBER LIMA - PILOT SEAT CAPTAIN HENRIQUE STEPHANINI - COPILOT SEAT
And that's how we ended up with a pilot filling a copilot spot.
And that shouldn't happen because those are distinct roles.
When one is sitting on the left and the other on the right,
it doesn't matter if they're a pilot or copilot.
The role they'll perform
will be either pilot flying or pilot monitoring.
I just don't see how that would be an issue.
Wouldn't it be two different roles, two different instincts in the cockpit?
Instinct?
Maybe, but it would also depend on the person.
We're used to it.
PILOT
Like muscle memory. He'd be using his right hand to fly.
As copilot, he'd use his left hand.
Although this isn't a major issue,
it takes time getting used to it.
At the time, the plane was at capacity for passengers and cargo.
It was also carrying a lot of fuel.
It was financially smarter
to fill up in Porto Alegre instead of São Paulo.
Since taxes on fuel were much higher in São Paulo,
they filled up this plane's tank to the brim.
Up to the very maximum volume of fuel allowed
for a plane to land on a short runway.
With a completely full tank,
it had over two extra tons of fuel beyond what was required.
That's why it burned for so long.
Back then, what people were saying,
the rumors being spread were that somehow,
the pilots had definitely something to do with the crash.
Even though nobody knew exactly what.
THRUST LEVERS
All this terminology, like thrust lever, reverser, locked-out reverser…
I learned all that during the investigation.
I had never heard those terms before.
LEFT THRUST LEVER RIGHT THRUST LEVER
The thrust lever works like the gas pedal in a car.
In a plane, the thrust lever controls the thrust power.
There are two thrust levers in this specific plane.
Each lever controls one engine.
The thrust lever has a few different positions.
CLIMB - IDLE - REVERSE
The middle position for the thrust levers
is called "Idle," or neutral.
IDLE (NEUTRAL)
Forward, or flight position, is called "Climb."
CLIMB (ACCELERATION)
And backward, which is called "Reverse."
REVERSE (BRAKES)
Thrust reversers are features on aircraft that help them slow down.
These are openings on the engine surface that propel the gas stream forward,
helping slow down the airplane.
Remember we only have one reverser.
Yes, only the left one.
At the time,
the airplane was operating with the right reverser locked out.
A locked-out reverser is when the reverser is not operational for whatever reason
and an actual pin is used to lock it manually.
An inoperative reverser is perfectly normal.
To this day, some still claim the reverser was the cause.
But that wasn't the cause.
Everything is calculated to make sure the aircraft can come to a halt
within the limits of the runway without using the reverser.
AVIATION CONSULTANT
That is, using only the brakes on the aircraft's wheels
along with aerodynamic braking, also known as spoilers.
When an airplane touches down
with a locked-out reverser,
you pull the thrust levers from Climb to Idle…
…then you immediately move both of them to Reverse,
including the locked-out reverser.
REVERSE
6:46 P.M. 7 MINUTES BEFORE THE ACCIDENT
Prepare for landing.
Cabin crew, prepare for landing.
- Landing cleared? - Landing cleared.
Before the renovations,
the runway was in much worse shape than it was
on the 16th and 17th.
However, without the grooving,
the wet surface reflected the city lights.
-It became a mirror. -It sure did.
What does that mean for a pilot?
Well, it's…
It's truly awful.
So the plane started landing under those awful conditions.
It touched down correctly.
However, the pilot only moved
the lever of the working reverser,
while the other one remained in Climb position, unfortunately.
REVERSE - CLIMB
FLIGHT 3054 LANDING: REVERSE, CLIMB NORMAL LANDING: REVERSE, REVERSE
They contradicted each other.
One was braking, while the other was accelerating.
Nothing would stop a plane that's still accelerating.
Reverser 1 only.
No spoilers.
Based on the braking commands given,
we can say the aircraft performed as expected.
3054 LANDING - NORMAL LANDING
The spoilers didn't deploy,
and the autobrakes didn't engage.
Oh!
-Look at that! -Slow down!
I can't do it!
They couldn't understand what was going on.
When landing, we expect a certain sequence of events.
If upon touching down, that sequence is different,
you wonder what's happening.
If I remember right, about seven seconds after touchdown,
the manual brakes were engaged.
Both of them applied the brakes,
but the airplane kept accelerating.
They didn't try to take off again.
With one engine accelerating and the other in Reverse,
the airplane would obviously go sideways.
Oh my God!
-Oh my God! -Go! Turn!
Turn! Go!
Oh my God!
God!
THE COCKPIT AUDIO
"BRAKE, BRAKE!" "I CAN'T DO IT!"
BLACK BOX REVEALS PILOT ERROR
How could such an experienced pilot make such a basic mistake?
Kleyber is not here to defend himself.
It's hard for a pilot
to accept certain things.
"My copilot will move the lever. It's intuitive, every pilot does it."
What would make an experienced crew do such a thing?
Why did they move the levers wrong?
Why did they do that?
It is something only CENIPA can answer
based on their own analysis.
Eleven months later,
the Air Force concluded their report on the causes of the crash.
This is crucial.
Was the main cause the mishandling of the levers?
According to the official report, yes.
But not the only cause.
FINAL REPORT
ISSUE: AIRPLANE CRASH DATE: JULY 17TH, 2007
CONCLUSION
CENIPA's report pointed out errors by Infraero, TAM, and Airbus,
the plane's manufacturer.
AFU QUADRANTS - GEAR
CRASHES CAUSED BY IMPROPER POSITIONING OF THRUST LEVERS
Four other identical crashes had already happened before.
PHOENIX, USA
IRKUTSK, RUSSIA BACOLOD, PHILIPPINES
In March 1998, in the Philippines,
another Airbus, also flying with a locked-out reverser,
skidded off the runway after sudden acceleration,
because the levers weren't on Idle.
The same power symmetry at play.
One lever accelerating, and the other reversing.
REVERSE CLIMB
Those accidents had fewer victims
because they happened at airports with larger runways,
with safety areas.
BACOLOD AIRPORT, PHILIPPINES - 1998
PHOENIX AIRPORT, USA - 2002
TAIPEI AIRPORT, TAIWAN - 2004
IRKUTSK AIRPORT, RUSSIA - 2006
Even so, the French manufacturer Airbus
didn't make the installation of an audible alert mandatory
to warn of a potential instrument misplacement.
An audible alarm would've alerted the pilots of the misconfigured lever,
allowing them to correctly position the aircraft's thrust levers.
Something similar to what happens when you forget to buckle up
and your car keeps beeping on and on…
until you notice there's something wrong.
But Airbus never issued a recall, 'cause that would have meant
bearing the cost
of retrofitting audible alarms on all of their planes.
They didn't do that.
They wanted the airlines to do it at their own expense.
TAM decided not to do it. It's costly.
You have to ground the planes, install it, upgrade their systems.
It's all about the money game.
It's a safety item, but who's gonna foot the bill?
RUNWAY
WET RUNWAY
DANGEROUS CONDITIONS
Later on, they said the runway wasn't the sole cause of the crash.
But, without a doubt, in my view, in my assessment,
the runway played a major role.
Over four hours, Captain Marco Aurélio Incerti
and copilot Daniel Alves da Silva
talked about the procedures adopted during the flight.
Both pilots flew the TAM Airbus
from Congonhas to Confins, in Minas Gerais, and back.
Then they handed the airplane to the next crew, who died in the crash.
Both pilots confirmed the black box data.
Since January, the Airbus manual recommends
that both levers be placed in the Reverse position
as soon as the plane touches down.
However, the captain stated that he only pulled the left lever,
leaving the right one in Idle, the neutral position.
The runway was slippery and wet, so he used a different procedure.
He said it helps to slow the plane down.
Now police want to know if the captain of flight 3054
adopted the same procedure as the previous pilot.
He saw the runway mirroring the skyline.
He was told it was wet and slippery.
And what probably happened was that, upon landing, he thought,
"It's raining, and the plane is heavy."
And that made them decide
to follow the old procedure, instead of the new one.
REVERSE - IDLE (NEUTRAL)
He knew the old procedure would save him 50 meters,
so that's exactly what he went for.
OLD LANDING PROCEDURE SAVES 55 METERS ON RUNWAY
3054 LANDING REVERSE - CLIMB
I am convinced that him leaving the lever on Climb
was out of an abundance of caution in trying to ensure the landing.
It was a consensus among pilots
that under those conditions in Congonhas,
it was safer to land that way.
If it was common knowledge
that pilots followed a procedure not recommended by the manufacturer,
why was it allowed to happen?
And who's supposed to enforce the rule? ANAC isn't on the plane.
The airline should be overseeing how its pilots are operating.
JULY 12TH, 2011 FEDERAL PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE
FOUR YEARS AFTER THE ACCIDENT
Four years of waiting.
Four years of memories.
Almost four years after the crash,
Federal Prosecutor Rodrigo de Grandis
justified his decision to file criminal charges
against Denise Abreu, former director of ANAC,
Alberto Fajerman, then VP of Operations at TAM,
and Marco Aurélio Castro, then Flight Safety Director at TAM.
You may ask, "Could others have also been charged?"
Possibly.
But not with that same level of probative force.
He explained it to me by saying,
"The three that I am indicting
are guilty beyond any doubt."
Airbus got off scot-free.
Unfortunately,
our justice system does not punish business entities,
only individuals,
and there was no way to pinpoint the person who decided
that safety procedure wasn't mandatory.
The prosecution claimed they knew about the plane and runway issues
that contributed to the tragedy.
To be honest, I still don't understand why they were indicted.
It's like they were picking at random.
"Let's indict Fajerman, Castro, and that Denise Abreu woman."
During the investigation, I got the impression
that this was a tragedy foretold.
The Federal Prosecutor's Office had tried to close the runway.
But ANAC took the case to the Federal Court of Appeals
to try to overturn the decision and have it reopened.
Denise Abreu visited the chambers of the judge
and invoked a "regulation,"
an alleged regulation,
as a supporting argument to get the runway reopened.
A regulation determining that no aircraft was allowed to land in Congonhas
with a locked-out reverser if the runway were wet.
Based on that regulation, the judge overturns the previous ruling
and reopens the runway.
But it turns out the regulation hadn't been in force.
They had agreed upon it, but it hadn't been published yet,
so it never came into effect.
They kept that from the judge.
The judge was under no obligation
to verify whether this document had been made official,
or whether it had been approved.
No such document was presented to the judge.
In fact, we didn't even talk about that.
She was definitely here
and knew about all the documents that were being given to me.
How could someone who drafted some contract
or signed a Term of Adjustment of Conduct
have the power to look at the sky and crash a plane?
For me, if the runway hadn't been open, that plane wouldn't have been there,
and we wouldn't be talking today.
Today's news…
is an answer to this everlasting battle.
The Federal Prosecutor who filed the charges
requested a sentence of four to 12 years in prison,
a decision now in the hands of the court.
FEDERAL COURTHOUSE
JUDGE CECÍLIA MARCONDES FEDERAL COURT HEARING
Good afternoon. I'm Rodrigo de Grandis, the prosecutor in charge of this case.
Each phase has an assessment at the end.
Every aircraft…
…the facts that took place in 2007.
I attended every single testimony during the trial.
The first day destroyed me.
TESTIMONY FOR FEDERAL COURT
-You flew the aircraft on July 16th, 2007? -Affirmative.
A pilot saying he saw
the plane wouldn't stop on that runway.
I mentioned that to my copilot,
and asked him to notify the tower
that the runway was very slippery.
I also asked him to alert other pilots and aircraft.
If they knew there was a problem,
why did they continue operating with that aircraft at that airport?
CAPTAIN MARCO AURÉLIO CASTRO TAM'S FORMER FLIGHT SAFETY DIRECTOR
I attended all the testimonies of the three defendants in the trial.
TAM'S FORMER VP OF OPERATIONS
FORMER DIRECTOR OF ANAC
Knowing that the person answering those questions
played a role in me losing my daughter
is very hard.
ALBERTO FAJERMAN AND MARCO AURÉLIO CASTRO, TWO OF THE INDICTED,
REFUSED TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS DOCUSERIES
FEDERAL COURTHOUSE
Many times, it felt like our loved ones had been murdered.
That it hadn't been an accident, but a murder.
ROGÉRIO'S BROTHER
We'd only find comfort if someone was tried and convicted.
I like to go unnoticed wherever I go.
But suddenly I was writing letters to ministers in Brazil and overseas.
It was surreal to me.
My daughter was the driving force behind everything I did.
The families believe justice will finally be served.
When sentencing happens in 2014, we hope they'll get the maximum sentence.
I used to leave the hearings
firmly believing we had a very strong case.
So much so that I was appalled to hear of the acquittal.
MAY 4TH, 2015
EIGHT YEARS AFTER THE ACCIDENT
My mom called me.
She said, "Can you believe it?"
I said, "I do."
SIMONE FELIZARDO PAULO'S SISTER
I do.
The Federal Prosecutor's Office filed charges against three people,
but they were all acquitted in the end.
In order to justify the acquittals, Judge Márcio Assad stated
that the broad scope of the Federal Prosecutor's accusations
could have extended liability
to an excessively large group of individuals.
ACTING FEDERAL JUDGE
Márcio Assad Guardia.
A judge whose brilliance and ethics
are truly admirable.
He literally wrote a book for posterity.
I think the feeling of impunity remains.
It remains not only with the families, but with those in the field of law.
If you ask me whether I would do it all over again,
I'd say I'd do it all exactly as I did.
There are other cases I might reconsider,
but definitely not this one.
JUDGE MÁRCIO ASSAD DECLINED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE SERIES.
Dario, why do you think
you were unsuccessful in convincing the judge?
I don't know.
Perhaps because the Federal Police report took a different approach.
REPORT
The Federal Police report blamed the pilot and the copilot for the crash.
For the families, that was simply unacceptable.
They were as much passengers as the rest of the people on that plane.
BY THE CREW
As CENIPA stated, there wasn't just one culprit.
It was a chain of events that unfortunately unfolded.
The Swiss cheese theory puts an axis
through several spinning discs with holes.
As on slices of Swiss cheese,
the holes represent faults
that can happen on these barriers.
If we get some Swiss cheese where all the holes are aligned,
the accident will happen.
Blaming the pilot isn't fair. It's almost cowardly.
Because the pilot is merely the final link
in a chain of multiple layers designed to ensure an aircraft's safety.
AVIATION BLACKOUT
FATIGUE
TWO PILOTS
WEIGHT
SLIPPERY RUNWAY
ESCAPE AREA
FAULTY TRAINING
NO RECALL
LEVERS
And that was ultimately ruled as the actual cause of the accident,
but in truth, he was set up for error.
We did everything in our power.
We came all the way here hoping for justice.
Unfortunately, it was not the result we had hoped for,
but we accept the verdict, the acquittal of the three defendants.
That won't bring my daughter back.
Or any of the victims.
But it would serve to show that those in leadership positions
do, in fact, have the responsibility
and should be held accountable.
DIRECTOR
The director of ANAC had scheduled a press conference,
but didn't show up.
It was her assistant who announced Denise Abreu's resignation.
She sent a letter to the Minister of Defense
claiming personal reasons,
and stating that she intends to provide an explanation to the president.
I had a very difficult time
after the crash.
I produced more than 90 gallstones.
I started to develop sepsis.
I had emergency surgery and had two cardiac arrests.
It sure took me a while
to rebuild myself emotionally.
But after nine months, I was reborn.
Good evening, my friends.
We're live on this Sunday's Hangout.
We're here with today's show's guest.
She's Denise Abreu, who will be running for president.
You were very critical of Lula, and especially of Dilma.
I was never critical of Lula.
Many say, "You were very critical of the Workers' Party." But I wasn't.
Dilma Rousseff and the Workers' Party need to be voted out of office.
You've been doing a great job. Keep going.
You can always count on me.
I am a public servant.
In 2016, she launched her bid for mayor of São Paulo,
but stepped down and endorsed Dória.
And I know how much one must value that salary
that's being paid by the taxpayers.
The Head of São Paulo's Public Lighting Dept., Denise Abreu,
was fired today by São Paulo mayor, João Dória.
It sounds like a political speech, but it isn't.
I have no political intentions for making this speech.
It's just who I am.
Recordings show that Denise Abreu
tried to hide that, due to the lack of maintenance by the city,
a bare electrical wire caused the death of a man last November.
Witnesses said a loose wire electrified the lighting pole.
A ruse to hide the fact
that the electrical connection had not been maintained for 30 years.
I guess it was a tragedy foretold.
JULY 17TH MEMORIAL
Five years after the crash,
a memorial was built to honor the victims.
The July 17th Memorial stands exactly where the crash site is.
A total of 199 lights illuminate the memorial in São Paulo's South Side.
For us, this memorial is a sacred place.
There's a mulberry tree right there
that survived both the crash and the building implosion.
We made sure that the memorial was built around it.
To serve as a reminder that life can…
How should I put it?
Carry on.
I moved to Buenos Aires.
I lived there for almost two years.
I had to remove myself a little from this environment of death.
I needed to start over.
I have two beautiful daughters.
God gave me that honor twice.
He put a smile back on my face.
The compensations did not change anyone's economic status.
Roberto still lives in the same 53-square-meter apartment.
Still living the same life.
My mom used to say,
"Let's enjoy life, because death is certain."
And I think that's what I tried to do.
I was a 23-year-old boy.
This whole process, along with AFAVITAM,
made me probably mature ten years in two.
Not even I knew how much I would learn and endure.
Since its beginning, aviation has progressed
because with every crash, we learn more lessons.
And with those lessons, we fix problems.
Today, ABRAPAVAA works to improve aviation
from a humanitarian assistance standpoint.
Life goes on.
I got back on my feet.
I think some families are still trying to recover from this tragedy.
AFAVITAM is still going strong.
Every year, we meet to celebrate the victims
both in Porto Alegre and São Paulo.
And we continue to fight
to keep that space in good condition,
because it's a public space, after all.
But it also should be remembered
for the tragedy that happened there.
It needs to serve as a landmark at the entrance of that airport
to ensure it never happens again.
If the Memorial is starting to fall apart, if it is poorly maintained,
that shows that we are starting to forget.
The airport was privatized
They want to increase the number of flights, of people.
But the memorial is right there.
Let's look at it and see what our best path forward is.
We should remain vigilant, so we don't have to relive this.
FIFTEEN AIRPORTS AUCTIONED OFF
Congonhas Airport in São Paulo was auctioned off this Thursday.
The Spanish company Aena bought it for 2 billion and 450 million reais,
which was 231% above the starting bid.
Aena paid billions of reais in that privatization auction,
and now it needs revenue.
According to Aena,
Congonhas Airport will get a new passenger terminal.
Their actual investment is to expand Congonhas Airport.
Don't ask me how, but that's their goal.
Understanding how an airport surrounded by a metropolis operates is challenging.
An island of airplanes squeezed in among houses and residential buildings.
When we say expansion,
we don't mean only the size of the runway or the airport.
We also mean an increase in the number of people.
The more people at the terminal,
the more food, coffee, and parking you sell.
You get revenue from all kinds of sources.
It's too many people for a single airport.
It's one plane after another. It's just absurd.
There's zero safety.
And we want safety.
I will still continue to fly.
But I wanna feel safe each time I get on an airplane.
I don't want to feel like it's a gamble.
JULY 17 MEMORIAL
Profit is obviously important, I know.
Every business needs to be profitable.
But profit should not be more important than people's lives.
TWO YEARS AFTER THE CRASH,
TAM HAD THE HIGHEST REVENUE IN ITS HISTORY.
IN 2016, TAM MERGED WITH CHILEAN AIRLINE LAN.
TODAY, LATAM IS THE BIGGEST AIRLINE IN LATIN AMERICA.
IN RECENT YEARS, AIRBUS SURPASSED THE TRADITIONAL BOEING,
BECOMING THE BIGGEST AIRCRAFT MAKER IN THE WORLD.
DUE TO THE STRIKE, 89 TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS
WERE CHARGED BY THE MILITARY.
THEIR DEMANDS WERE ONLY PARTIALLY MET.
CURRENTLY, IT'S ESTIMATED THAT 85% OF BRAZILIAN CONTROLLERS
ARE MILITARY PERSONNEL.
CLAIMING LACK OF INTEREST, THE AIR FORCE DID NOT ALLOW
ANY OF ITS OFFICERS TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS SERIES.
THE GOL CRASH RESULTED IN 145 CASUALTIES.
THE TAM CRASH IN CONGONHAS REAPED 199 LIVES.
THIS SERIES IS DEDICATED TO THEM.
MAY THEY NEVER BE FORGOTTEN.
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