Brazilian airliner crashes into building, killing 200: fire official

SAO PAULO (AFP) - A Brazilian TAM airliner skidded off a runway at a Sao Paulo airport and crashed into a building across the road, bursting into flames, with one official estimating the death toll at 200.

"There's 200 killed over there," Manuel Antonio da Silva Araujo, a colonel in Sao Paulo's fire department said. The official, quoted by the online edition of the Folha de Sao Paulo daily, said none of the 176 people aboard the plane could have survived such a crash.

Late in the night, 16 people who were in the building at the time of the crash were confirmed dead, with 12 more injured, officials said as rescue operations continued.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva decreed three days of national mourning.

Tam, Brazil's largest airline, said the Airbus 320 skidded off the runway in driving rain and slammed into the company's offices across from Sao Paulo's Congonhas airport.

The airport is notorious for its short and often slippery runway, and its proximity to the nearby city center's high-rise buildings.

"The plane accelerated when it reached the end of the runway and tried to take off again to avoid the avenue, but it crashed into the building and exploded," salesman Junior Matos told AFP after witnessing the crash.

Only the tail end of the aircraft remained visible from outside the building, witnesses said.

The fire spread to a neighbouring building.

As firefighters battled the blaze, the first victims were seen being taken out of the building two hours after the crash, witnesses said.
Public Safety officials said 50 fire trucks and 150 rescuers were on the scene.

Congonhas airport was closed to air traffic and flights were diverted to other airports serving the Sao Paulo area.

The busiest airport in Brazil, Congonhas, which is just a few kilometers (miles) from the center of Brazil's financial capital, is mainly used for regional flights from other parts of Brazil and South America. The Guarulhos International Airport handles most longer-range flights.

Pilots consider landing at the airport to be particularly challenging because of the intense traffic, the nearby high-rise buildings and what some critics call a particularly short runway.

In February, a local judge banned the use of the airport by Fokker 100, Boeing 737-800 and Boeing 737/700 jetliners, but the ruling was overturned by an appeals court.

The previous worst accident in Brazil's aviation history occurred on September 29, when a Brazilian Gol Boeing 737 flying from Manaos to Brasilia crashed into the Amazon jungle killing all 154 people on board after it was clipped in mid-air with a small private jet. The occupants of the smaller jet were unhurt.