THE DEADLIEST AVIATION CRASH IN LATIN AMERICAN HISTORY
It's very painful for us to revisit that past,
but I think it's important to tell this story.
That way, people can stay vigilant, and safety can be taken seriously.
No money in the world can pay for the daughter I've lost.
This isn't about compensation.
I don't want to lose the two children I have left.
And for that,
it's essential to have more safety in our air transport systems.
July 17th, 2007.
TAM's Airbus A320…
…crossed the Congonhas Airport runway in São Paulo…
…and exploded after crashing into a building owned by the company.
In the heart of the largest city in the country.
The accident killed all 187 people on board
and 12 other people on land.
The chances of finding survivors are dwindling.
There are two people in the window!
The plane destroyed the building. The people died instantly.
They were crushed.
During all that madness, what did she do?
She grabbed the kid and…
We're dealing with charred bodies.
It's a funeral without a body.
A police investigation has been opened to find out
the causes of the crash.
But the police investigation was conducted under secrecy.
Why the secrecy?
We demand an explanation!
We would often think it wasn't an accident.
They were murdered.
Everyone knew it was coming.
-A tragedy foretold. -A tragedy foretold.
A tragedy foretold.
Ten months before the crash involving TAM's Airbus,
the crisis in the aviation sector was already underway.
Certain professionals should've acted, but didn't. That's homicide.
The Senate's Inquiry Commission decided to break the confidentiality
of the National Civil Aviation Agency's Director, Denise Abreu.
I am a victim too!
I was elected as a scapegoat
for this country's political system!
You've been doing a great job. Keep going.
You can count on me.
When I say, "Olavo is right," it's because he's right!
We cannot condemn or acquit anyone…
PRESIDENT
…based on hasty opinions.
The families believe that, finally, justice will be served.
We hope for a maximum penalty.
The Air Force is investigating all factors that may have contributed
to the greatest tragedy in Brazilian aviation.
The pilots' testimonies were compelling.
They were afraid to land at Congonhas.
From the very beginning,
I've wanted to identify the people responsible
for what happened to my daughter.
INVESTIGATOR
From the very first night.
A TRAGEDY FORETOLD: FLIGHT 3054
CONGONHAS AIRPORT SÃO PAULO
Understanding how an airport surrounded by a metropolis operates is challenging.
An island of airplanes squeezed in among houses and residential buildings.
I'd compare Congonhas Airport to an aircraft carrier.
THE FATEFUL THRESHOLD TO JABAQUARA'S RESIDENTIAL AREA
That airport has always been a big challenge for any pilot.
PILOT
It's always had
a bad reputation.
It actually had the worst reputation. Let's put it that way.
The length of the runway is one of the concerns.
Congonhas has no safety area.
Once the runway ends, there's nowhere to go.
You either fall down or off to the sides.
Planes pass by my window. I can almost wave to the captain.
São Paulo's Congonhas Airport is the busiest in the country.
Every minute, there's a plane landing or taking off.
It's one plane after another.
I mean, it's absurd.
There's no safety.
This was creating a whole stigma,
a greater concern among the crew,
making operations even more challenging.
Then, in 1985, they built Guarulhos, an international airport.
But Congonhas was never really abandoned,
as it has the advantage of being very close to the city center.
Back then, the aviation world was constantly worried.
AVIATION HISTORIAN
"Jeez."
"Congonhas is awful."
"Congonhas is complicated."
"It's always packed."
It did feel like something was looming.
CONGONHAS AIRPORT
Too many people and planes for just one airport.
In Congonhas, the busiest airport in Latin America…
Assholes!
…chaos began early, with 160 delayed flights.
It's an obsolete, outdated, and defective airport.
It's time we reassess the future of this airport.
The Congonhas crash happened in this scenario.
A complicated scenario.
It was as if the air was heavier.
JULY 17TH, 2007 2 HOURS BEFORE THE ACCIDENT
5:00 PM
SALGADO FILHO AIRPORT PORTO ALEGRE
How did flight 3054 take off from Porto Alegre?
THAIS'S FATHER
I watched the boarding process.
Thais was coming to São Paulo.
It was her second time traveling alone by plane.
She was making friends at a new school,
so she invited a friend to spend the summer vacation here in São Paulo.
Her friend Thais, a classmate of hers,
REBECA'S FATHER
was gonna visit her grandparents in São Paulo and invited Rebeca along.
I already knew Thais' parents, so…
no problem there.
I took her to the airport, Rebeca's mother took her,
and they met there at the airport, super excited.
-She called you from the airport? -She did.
She called me and said,
"Thanks for the trip, Dad. I love you."
That was still during the so-called Aviation Blackout,
with chaos in the transport system at airports everywhere.
I took a friend to the airport, and he said, "This airport is terrible."
I said, "My daughter's flying,
and she has no idea of the chaos that awaits her."
I could have never imagined what was really coming to her.
Her grandfather would pick them up at the airport in São Paulo.
I waited for them to board.
So many people boarded that plane that I thought,
"So many people can fit in there."
Will you pick me up in Congonhas?
That would be the last takeoff of that plane.
…two pillars…
I waited until it was time.
The last trip those people took.
Then the nightmare started.
6:46 PM TWO MINUTES BEFORE THE ACCIDENT
Control, São Paulo, TAM 3054.
Control, could you inform TAM 3054 if there's rain in Congonhas?
Light, continuous rain.
The runway is wet, but no skidding has been reported.
What is your speed, 3054?
Currently, 230 knots.
Crew, prepare for landing.
It had been a cold day.
It was July. It was rainy.
I was an IT project manager.
Many people worked in that building.
TAM EXPRESS BUILDING
Maybe 100, 150 people.
But that was our routine. Landings and takeoffs all day long.
We got used to all that noise.
We heard those engines all day long.
Please confirm landing conditions.
TAM 3054, runway is wet and slippery.
Runway 35L is clear. Landing has been authorized.
And as I was finishing up my shift,
I turned to Wanderlei and said, "I'm done."
We usually left together.
We were chatting normally,
then suddenly, this engine noise kept getting louder and closer.
It got really loud.
It kept getting closer.
Then came the crash.
It happened very fast.
-Is that an airplane over there? -It sure is!
It flew right over us while we were eating!
-Careful, man! -It skidded off?
It skidded off there!
People are yelling for help!
Calm down! Grab the fire extinguishers!
Do not jump!
There wasn't even time to say, "What's that? What's going on?"
There was no time.
Our reaction was to run to a safe area. We didn't know what happened.
MILITARY POLICE
FIRE DEPARTMENT
I was one of the first responders.
POLICE VILLAIN, FIRE HERO
I remember it was getting dark. But as I got closer…
FIRE BATTALION CHIEF
…it got so bright.
It looked like a sun.
I didn't see a plane.
The fuel had spread across the building's structure.
The heat was so intense,
the water evaporated before even reaching the core of that ball of fire.
More water! We need more water!
We're running out of water!
Another firefighter told me, "We're running out of water."
I couldn't care less about the water.
I wanted to save the people jumping off the building.
Please, dispatch,
see if it's possible to send trucks with ladders,
considering that people are trying to jump off the burning building.
Employees on the first floor tried to escape the flames.
This woman jumped and was rescued by men from the Fire Department.
Somebody said, "Don't take the stairs, because most of the smoke is there."
And that was when…
I noticed there was no more oxygen.
And at that moment, someone yelled, "Let's lie down so we can breathe."
I yelled out for Wanderlei. He said, "I'm here. Hold my hand."
And so I found his hand in the dark.
And so we went crawling and feeling our way out.
We kept yelling, "This way, guys!"
"The hallway!"
But they'd say, "I don't know where I am!"
I could hear the sound of the fire, which is terrifying.
It makes you apprehensive, 'cause it sounds like a dragon.
It all melted like wax, from the bricks to parts of the building.
I was so devastated, because as firefighters,
we call it the accident kinematics.
FIRE CHIEF
The kinematics of the plane crashing into the building,
at 180 km/h.
No one could've survived that. It'd take a miracle.
But we hope for miracles, so…
I'm sure most firefighters believe in miracles.
That's the truth.
POLICE
The crash affected part of a gas station,
hence the firefighters' concern about new explosions,
but the plane destroyed the cargo building of TAM Airlines.
In the TAM Express hangar,
there were over 50 people working at the time of the crash.
The gas station was where I was deployed.
I checked the underground tanks, asked how much fuel was in them.
We couldn't have that building collapsing and the fire spreading to the gas station.
Based on my experience then,
I knew that fire wouldn't be contained so easily.
Something was telling me
I wasn't gonna die there.
"I'm not gonna die at work."
That I would make it out.
I grabbed a chair and smashed two windows with it.
Somebody said, "There are more people about to jump!"
And I saw two people trying to breathe, with half their bodies out.
So I yelled, "Calm down! Don't jump!"
I mean, two people had already jumped.
And now I see more people about to jump too.
There was smoke inside, and the wind was blowing in more.
The heat was intense.
Wanderlei's breathing was deteriorating very fast.
Then I started yelling, "I need a ladder over here!"
Wanderlei was getting worse
as the heat and our despair increased.
I lifted the ladder all the way up to a small canopy.
I stepped onto it and thought, "I'll go up to them one step at a time."
I smashed this window glass to use the frame for support.
But as I smashed it,
all that trapped heat and black smoke came out.
It was so intense, it burned my hand.
I knew then I wouldn't make it to them, so I climbed back down.
He kept saying he couldn't take it anymore,
that he was tired and couldn't breathe.
And I would just talk to him, to try and keep him awake.
Then I saw a ladder truck and ran to it.
I climbed up onto the driver's side and told him, "Come with me."
I climbed onto the tip of the ladder, and he lifted it all the way up.
There it is!
With the help of a turntable ladder,
one of the firefighters is approaching the people in need.
They're about to be rescued.
I said, "No, Wanderlei first."
"He needs to go immediately."
As he jumps into the cradle, he faints right then and there.
I'm Wanderlei Silva. I was in the TAM crash.
I…
remember a hero.
A man who even tried using a regular ladder
to save lives.
So, I am eternally grateful to this person.
The same goes for Paulo Zani,
who went through that crash with me.
And together, we managed to be here today.
Now someone else will try to get into the cradle.
They were rescued! The second person was rescued!
I started crying.
I felt gratitude and thought, "We made it, and we're alive."
I remained conscious.
Then I asked the nurse, "What happened?"
She said, "A TAM Airbus crashed into the building."
I said, "No way."
"I don't believe it."
We had survived
something of that magnitude.
Several bodies have been removed, and there are more to follow.
They're spraying some kind of foam or water over us,
because there's still a risk of fire here.
Right now, I see the body of a man being taken from the scene.
-My God. -It's a shocking scene. I'm sorry.
-Why are the firefighters running? -Everybody's running!
It's gonna collapse!
-The building may collapse. -Everyone's running!
Leo is also moving away because the building may collapse.
Its structure has been completely compromised!
He died during prime-time television.
He and others.
And the news made it a spectacle, as if it was cinematic.
And I was at work. Then I heard the news about a tragedy at Congonhas Airport.
That a TAM cargo plane had crashed into a building.
MÁRIO'S BROTHER
At first, Infraero reported that a small aircraft had crashed.
But within just a minute, or a couple of minutes,
it changed from a cargo plane to a passenger plane.
We still don't know which flight it was, its origin and destination,
if it was a connection flight, or how many passengers were on board.
When I heard that, my heart stopped.
It was, in fact, a huge plane
that crashed while landing at Congonhas Airport in São Paulo.
And so began the nightmare.
So began the unbelievable.
It was flight JJ3054,
which had left Porto Alegre at 5:16 p.m.
We knew he had boarded, but we didn't know the flight number.
Then we called the owner of the agency,
and he told us that Mário had bought a ticket for flight JJ3054.
Then came the deceptions of hope.
"Oh, but maybe he didn't board the plane because of the Aviation Blackout."
And we kept trying to call his phone. It kept going to voicemail.
As we are fixing to go out to dinner, Rebeca's mom calls me.
She tells me there had been an accident.
And then my heart just sank.
We had…
At Salgado Filho Airport in Porto Alegre,
where flight TAM 3054 had departed from,
the delay in releasing the names of the passengers on board
infuriated the victims' families searching for answers.
Who did the check-in? Tell me!
-I wanna know! -I wanna know, Isabel.
Of course.
That airport was in turmoil,
full of people wanting to know who was on the passenger list.
But I didn't need to know if she was on it,
because I saw my daughter board that plane.
If that was really flight 3054, I didn't need any confirmation.
I knew she was on it.
-Where is the list? -Show us the passenger list!
The families are here waiting, and you do nothing.
You say we'll have it in 10, 30 minutes. Tomorrow, next year? When?
I wanted to know if my brother was on it.
"Check the computer, and see if he boarded."
Even bus stations know exactly who is on their buses.
This was an airline.
Outraged, the relatives threatened to storm the TAM counter.
When the commotion started, the riot police arrived.
The riot police arrived in full force.
They went for the families. That's all they've done so far.
Show us the list.
If I see my brother's name,
then my hopes of him being alive will depend on my faith alone.
The victims' families arrived at a hotel in Porto Alegre a little before midnight.
Their main complaint being the lack of updates.
Some threatened to sue the company for negligence.
If there are no updates, we'll file a police report.
It's been over six hours. We're heading back to the airport.
And then…
a news station got its hands on the list.
And we had a radio at the counter.
Then they started reading the list.
And we grew more and more terrified
as they got closer to the letter M, for Mário.
Over seven hours after the crash,
the media outlets started reporting the passengers' names.
Families who were waiting for TAM's official press release
ended up hearing the news on the radio.
After each name,
a reaction.
Some required medical attention.
I went to TAM's ticket counter and said, "I wanna go to São Paulo."
"It's not possible. Everything is closed."
I went to Gol's. "I wanna buy a ticket to São Paulo."
They said there were no flights.
I said, "How can I get to São Paulo?"
I told my wife, "I'm gonna drive, then."
"My daughter is there."
Later, a woman came back saying, "Follow me, sir."
She put me on a flight to Guarulhos.
It was a horrible flight.
The flight crew had just lost their colleagues and all.
My father-in-law went from Congonhas to Guarulhos to meet me.
I don't think I even asked him how he was feeling about everything.
I was just so grief-stricken over my loss. But he had lost his granddaughter.
And how was it when you two met in Guarulhos?
We were both speechless. We just hugged.
That's it.
These were the images São Paulo woke up to.
It even looked like a bombing, given the state of the building.
The Fire Department should be done by the end of this week.
Then another problem will need to be solved--
what to do with the building.
According to them, the structure has already sunk four inches
and continues to sink.
One of the firefighters' missions was to locate the black boxes.
If you ask a firefighter today, "What is a black box?"
A black box is actually orange, and there are two of them.
In a scenario in which everything caught fire,
everything is black.
Everything got burned.
The dialogue from the black box can indicate the causes of the crash
that killed nearly 200 people.
There are experts already surveying the site.
At that point, the fire still wasn't under control.
FORENSIC EXPERT
It kept burning for four days.
FORENSIC PHOTOGRAPHS BY ANTONIO NOGUEIRA
We couldn't get inside.
However, the debris that was being collected
was all being transported to a TAM hangar
inside the airport.
FORENSICS PHOTOGRAPHER
Removing the debris also took a long time,
including the removal of the black boxes, which were prioritized in the operation.
The two black boxes of the TAM Airbus A320
are being sent for analysis in Washington, in the United States.
By Thursday, the Air Force had announced
that the two black boxes had already been sent to the US.
At the time, I was at the threshold of the runway,
and when I went down again,
the Air Force and the firefighters had already found the boxes.
When the Air Force passed by with the black box, my crew said,
"Chief, that wasn't a black box."
But they're the Air Force,
so we respected it.
Confusion over the sending of equipment from the TAM plane for analysis in the US.
One of the pieces of equipment sent for analysis was a different part,
and not the black box with the dialogue between the pilot and copilot.
There are two black boxes. One for data and one for voice.
Then I got a call.
"Are you at the crash site?" I said, "Yes, I am."
They said, "The CVR is still there somewhere."
The voice recorder.
I remember cursing.
"You gotta be kidding me." He was serious. But it wasn't there.
There was almost nothing left of the wreckage.
It was clean.
They said, "It must be there."
The voice recorder was taken to another place along with the debris,
and it wasn't sent with the data recorder.
4 DAYS AFTER THE ACCIDENT
The actual box that recorded the pilot talking to the control tower
was only found this morning.
We were even kinda proud. We did say that it wasn't a black box.
What was sent instead?
If I remember correctly, it was a coffee maker or something unrelated.
The expectation is that, in a month,
the conversation between the pilot Kleyber Aguiar Lima
and the copilot Henrique di Sacco
with the Congonhas control tower will be revealed.
Without the examination of the black boxes,
there was no way to know what had happened.
There are several theories for the accident.
ALL THE THEORIES
1. THE RUNWAY
2. THE RAIN
3. THE THRUST REVERSAL
4. THE WEIGHT
5. THE SPEED
PILOT - RUNWAY - PLANE
Most experts agree that the first possibility
is that the Airbus pilot tried to take off again.
He might've tried to abort the landing.
The second theory is that the pilot tried to brake,
lost control of the plane, and veered off the runway.
And the third theory is the water accumulation on the runway.
The rain, the grooves, the oily asphalt. Speculations abound.
It could be problems with the plane,
some issue with the brakes,
or maybe the problem was that it came in too fast.
A day before the crash,
three aircraft had to abort their landing,
and eight reported that the runway was slippery.
What do these reports mean?
At first, it'd been an accident,
but now the runway was in a bad condition, or the plane was in a bad condition.
The answer could only come from the airline.
At the press conference,
TAM's CEO Marco Bologna expressed sorrow for the accident.
He stated that the aircraft was in perfect condition.
…in perfect conditions of maintenance, airworthiness, and operation.
TAM's Airbus A320 landed in Congonhas fully loaded
and practically at its weight limit.
We must always put safety first.
Check out TAM's seven commandments on the company's website.
TAM's first commandment is that nothing replaces profit.
And third on the list,
"Safety is more important than customers."
There were many mistakes.
It had braking issues.
The plane was fully loaded,
with a pilot in the copilot's seat.
The correct procedure is to have a pilot and a copilot.
They are distinct roles.
Another airline mistake.
It simply confirmed the behavior of a company that disregards human life.
My daughter didn't have to die. None of the 199 victims had to die.
That's why I'm not afraid to say
that TAM is a murderous company!
Who is to blame?
Who authorized that plane?
TAM had no idea what was coming for them.
And we will not stop until those murderers are behind bars!
Subtitle translation by Ron Sawyer