TAM Brazilian Airlines

In 1999, I was fortunate enough to travel to Brazil on company business. I had a cable TV background, and my company was investigating a joint venture with the Brazilian cable TV company, Globa Cabo. This was the first time I had left the good old USA, so this Kansas boy was surprised by the global traveling experiences. Of the entire trip, my most notable experience was a flight from Sao Paulo to Rio de Janeiro.


TAM airline is a local Brazilian carrier that runs flights to and from the 2 cities on the half hour. The 45 minute flight had a one-way cost of $75. The service provided for that price was incredible. So was the excitement.

Upon boarding the plane (a 737) I noticed the low "mood" lights and soft music playing. It was very relaxing. Before we had even left the gate, stewardesses were pouring champagne for all passengers, not just the ones in first class. I made that comment to the person in the next seat. My seat neighbor's name was Peter, and he just smiled as if he knew something that I did not. Peter was a VP for the company I worked for and stationed in Brazil. He worked in Sao Paulo and lived in Rio, so this commute was his regular routine. As we left the gate, pillows, blankets, and magazines were offered to all. It was all hard to imagine for a 45 minute flight!

As soon as we left the ground, a hot meal was distributed through out the cabin. Wow! What service for a small commuter airline on a flight that wasn't much more than a long cab ride. The meal was excellent, much better than what I have been served in the First Class cabin of an American airline. As passengers finished their meal, trays and dishes were picked up. I remember I finished my food about the same time we began our approach to Rio Domestic Airport.

The descent was beautiful. We were within sight of Mount Corcovada, the site of the famous Christ statue. The airport itself is located in Janeiro bay. The only runway is completely surrounded by water except for a single taxiway to the terminal. Our descent was steep since we had to first clear the mountains surrounding the city. We plunged downward. Until the last moment of flight, it appeared as though we were going straight into the bay. When the first glimpse of pavement appeared, we immediately touched down. The pilot then hit the brakes and thrust reverser hard. I found that my face was soon pressed against the seat in front of me. As we turned on the taxiway to the terminal, I was able to see the end of the runway within a few hundred yards. Margin for error was very small.

Peter, seeing my surprise at the rough landing, let me in on his secret. The Rio Domestic Airport runway was 500' shorter than the minimum standard for 737's in the United State. The pilot had to throw the brakes on hard to avoid rolling into the bay at the end of the runway. He then told me of an experience he once had on the same flight. Peter recounted how during one landing, he noticed that runway appeared but touch down did not immediately happen. As he steeled himself for rougher than normal landing, he noticed that the terminal building was passing to the side. That had never happened during past landings. The plane finally touched down and a panic stop ensued.

But it was too late. The plane used all runway before hitting the rocks protecting the seawall along the bay. The impact tore off the front landing gear and the nose of the aircraft dipped into the water. Emergency exits were opened and emergency slides dropped from them. Most passengers began to panic and many used the emergency slide exits at the rear of the plane. Since the nose was down, the tail was high making the exit slides drop vertically to the runway below. People were basically jumping out of the plane straight down to pavement and breaking ankles and other bones.

Peter, being a seasoned executive, did not panic. He saw there was no smoke, and therefore no compelling reason to risk injury by exiting the plane. Instead, he waited for the plane to clear, walked to the front exit, stepped down to the boulders surrounding the runway, and then climbed up to the tarmac. He then waited for the emergency vehicles to arrive to pick them up for a ride back to the terminal. And he waited a while more. They never arrived. Peter and those able, began to walk to the terminal.

Surely safety officials would meet them there to care for injured and make arrangements to deliver baggage. Nope. So Peter retrieved his car and drove home. He was never contacted by the Brazilian version of the FAA, or even a representative of TAM airlines.


Upon further investigation, Peter found that such landings are quite common in Rio. One in every 5,000 arrival suffers the same fate. Since the TAM airline has at least 24 arrivals each day, that would mean this occurs once every 7 months a TAM 737 skids off the Rio runway into the bay. You don't really think of Brazil as a third world country, but I think they are.

Brad Paisley said "that if love was an airplane, no body would get on". I would say the exception would be those traveling to Rio on TAM.