Brazil releases final report on Congonhas A320 runway excursion accident
published: November 1, 2009, 09:03 UTC
by Harro Ranter, ASN
Brazilian investigators released the final report of their investigation into the accident of TAM Flight 3054. The Airbus A320 landed on a wet runway at Sao Paulo-Congonhas Airport in July 2007. It failed to stop and went off the wet runway, colliding with a building. All 187 occupants were killed, along with twelve people on the ground.
One of the thrust levers was in the Reverse-position, while the other lever was in the forward (thrust) position. It was deemed possible that this occurred because of a mechanical failure, but in a more like scenario the lever was inadvertently positioned forward by the crew. In any case, the crew failed to detect the problem and act accordingly. Factors identified in the report are: lack of crew coordination, co-pilot inexperience, crew pairing, the pilot's headache, pilot's perception of company pressure to avoid landing at alternate airports, crew anxiety regarding the weather and runway condition. (CENIPA)
» RF A-67/CENIPA/2009
One of the thrust levers was in the Reverse-position, while the other lever was in the forward (thrust) position. It was deemed possible that this occurred because of a mechanical failure, but in a more like scenario the lever was inadvertently positioned forward by the crew. In any case, the crew failed to detect the problem and act accordingly. Factors identified in the report are: lack of crew coordination, co-pilot inexperience, crew pairing, the pilot's headache, pilot's perception of company pressure to avoid landing at alternate airports, crew anxiety regarding the weather and runway condition. (CENIPA)
17 JUL 2007, 18:45 Airbus A320-233
PR-MBK - TAM Linhas Aéreas
187 / 187
12 São Paulo-Congonhas Airport, SP (CGH) (Brazil)
Domestic Scheduled Passenger flight, during Landing
TAM Flight 3054 was a regular flight from Porto Alegre (POA) to São Paulo-Congonhas (CGH). The Airbu... (more)
