The provided text is a detailed account of the biggest and last accident involving a regular commercial plane in Brazil that occurred on July 17, 2007. The story is set against the backdrop of the country's heightened air blackout period, leading up to the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro.
The A320 Airbus, registered as Papa Romeo Mike Bravo, took off from Porto Alegre en route to Congonhas Airport in São Paulo. The flight commander had over 13,600 hours of experience, of which over 2,000 hours were not on an A320. The co-pilot had over 14,700 hours of flight, with only 200 hours on a bush aircraft. The flight had 187 people on board, including six active crew members and 181 passengers, including two infants.
The plane had an issue with the right engine reverser, which had been deactivated due to leak problems in one of its actuators. This was allowed by the manual called Meo Mimo equipment list, which lists equipment auxiliaries to brake an aircraft.
The Congonhas runway had been a subject of complaints due to issues related to operations on wet runways, mainly due to hydroplaning. In response to these issues, ANAC, the airspace control department, and Infraero, the company responsible for Congonhas Airport, met to adopt solutions and mitigators for these runway risks.
On the day of the accident, the runway was slippery due to rain, and several reports from crew members informed the tower about the slippery runway. The airport operations were closed for 20 minutes, and the Airbus took off from Porto Alegre until it began its approach to Congonhas.
The aircraft touched the runway but ended up in the median of Congonhas airport in São Paulo. The plane skidded off the runway and came to a stop. The accident resulted in the deaths of 187 people on board.
The text also discusses the systemic issues that contributed to the accident, including the high-pressure environment that pilots lived under, the rapid training of new pilots, and the company's operations sector not proactively managing the need to reconcile the different levels and professional training in the composition of the crews.
In conclusion, this account provides a detailed and contextualized account of a significant aviation accident, highlighting the complex interplay of technical, operational, and systemic factors that contributed to the tragedy.
1. The biggest and last accident of a regular commercial plane in Brazil occurred on the night of July 17, 2007.
2. The accident happened at Congonhas, the busiest airport in Brazil, which was operating at its capacity due to a coordinated airport system.
3. The plane, an A320 Airbus, took off from Porto Alegre, carrying out flight JJ 3054 to Congonhas Airport in São Paulo.
4. The flight commander had over 13,000 hours of experience, including more than 2,000 hours on the A320 Airbus.
5. The plane had 187 people on board, including six active crew members and 181 passengers, including two infants.
6. The right engine reverser of the plane had leak problems in one of its actuators, which were dealt with by the company's maintenance team.
7. The Congonhas runway had been subject to complaints due to problems related to operations on wet runways, mainly due to hydroplaning.
8. The draft for present instructions for dispatch and operation of jet aircraft on wet runways had been published on the agency's official website but was removed a few weeks later.
9. The accident was caused by the plane skidding off the runway and ending up in the median of Congonhas airport in São Paulo.
10. The plane had left Porto Alegre with two tons more fuel than necessary because the ICMS on fuel was cheaper in Rio Grande do Sul than in São Paulo.
11. The flight commander had placed the throttle of engine one in reverse, but the plane's programming increased the power on that side until it reached the last speed that was programmed on the autopilot panel.
12. The plane started to deviate to the left of the center of the runway, and the automatic braking was deactivated in these seconds.