yikes
I just read that a plane crashed at Sao Paulo's Congonhas airport, a TAM domestic flight. We flew in and out of that airport on TAM, twice, when we were in Brazil late last month.
Apparently the plane, while attempting to land, crashed through a wall, slid across a busy street during rush hour, and crashed into a gas station where it exploded in a ball of fire.
There's no word yet on casualties that I can find online.
update: video and news here.
update 2: Bad news. It sounds like there were no survivors on the plane and possibly more dead who weren't even on the flight.
Photo by Flickr user ze maciel and used under a Creative Commons license.
reactions, thoughts, comments, etc.
I'm watching local news about the crash and the information we have here is that no gas station were hit, but a TAM (the airline itself) express store for mailing packages throught planes. The goods there are burst into flames by the initial explosion of the plane.
The gas station were a serious concern but it have not been hit (as of yet at least).
The power around the area were cut to avoid fire by short circuits, but the flames are still although were controlled around 10-11pm. Some moments after the flames were taken as controlled they went up again, postponing even more the rescue of the burn bodies which was initiated after the fire was initially held.
The hour the plane crashed, rush hour, was when the TAM express store was plenty of workers, some jumped off third and second floor, and unknown number of remaining people were inside the building but anyway there were quite a lot of people on the hit building.
Posted by: Fabricio Murta | July 17, 2007 8:22 PM
I can tell from Argentina that the number of deaths goes close to 200. About 100 hundred dead bodies were collected, one of them being Argentinean Citizen. Argentinean goverment is sending a team to investigate (if not demand) about possible security holes in the airport that led to this terrible accident.
By the way, the Ezeiza Argentinean International Airport is being conducted under similar ("similar" menaing very bad is a deduction) circumstances, and the same danger lies on our country as well.
Posted by: Matias Jose | July 18, 2007 9:44 AM
Sorry, my mistake: The government in action is the Brazilian government. Argentinean government is still quiet about the Argentinean citizen that died in the accident. I have detailed information if you wish me to elaborate.
Posted by: Matias Jose | July 18, 2007 9:50 AM
I though of your trip when I saw it on the news. It is tragic and sad. Our thought are with the family and friends...
Posted by: marco | July 18, 2007 10:26 AM