TAM 3054 July 17, 2007 - S‹o Paulo, SP, Brazil - Nearly 200 die after Tam Linhas AŽreas flight 3054 crash-lands and bursts into flames at Congonhas, BrazilŐs busiest airport. The Airbus 320 was en route to S‹o Paulo from Porto Alegre when it attempted to land in driving rain on a runway criticized as being too short. The plane skidded and then traveled across a busy road at the height of the evening rush hour, slamming into a petrol station and erupting into a fireball. A federal court in February briefly banned takeoffs and landings of large jets at the airport because of safety concerns at Congonhas. The crash came 10 months after BrazilŐs deadliest air disaster, a September collision between a Gol Aerolinhas Inteligentes SA Boeing 737 and an executive jet over the Amazon rainforest. All 154 people on the passenger jet died, while the executive jet landed safely.
Picture © Agncia Estado/ZUMA