Brian Homewood/RIO de JANIERO
A Fokker 100 (PT-MRK) operated by Brazilian regional airline TAM crashed into a densely populated residential area shortly after take-off from Sao Paulo's downtown Congonhas airport on 31 October. All 90 passengers and six crew on board were killed, along with at least eight people on the ground. Some reports suggest the number killed on the ground could be more than 20.
The aircraft, Flight 402 to Rio de Janiero, crashed into the Parque Jabaquara suburb around 2km (1nm) from the end of the runway, destroying ten houses, two office blocks and numerous vehicles. The accident occurred at 08.26 local time in clear, calm weather with good visibility.
Brazil's aeronautics ministry says that the aircraft never got more than 30m off the ground before it clipped a four-storey building, burst into flames and crashed. TAM says that it bought the aircraft, one of 28 Fokker 100s in its fleet, from the manufacturer three years ago. The aircraft had completed around 8,500 flying hours.
This is the second major Fokker 100 accident since the type entered service in April 1988. The previous loss occured in March 1993, when a Palair Macedonian aircraft crashed in bad weather shortly after take-off from Skopje, Macedonia, killing 81 people.
US cargo airline Millon Air voluntarily suspended operations on 25 October, three days after one of its Boeing 707s crashed into houses in Manta, Ecuador, killing 25 people. The US Federal Aviation Administration says that it asked Millon Air to stop flying to allow a team to inspect the Miami-based airline's records. The FAA has suspended Millon Air's operating permit, but the carrier has not been asked to surrender its operating certificate. There is no estimate of how long the airline will be grounded. A Millon Air McDonnell Douglas DC-8 slid off the runway in Guatemala City in April 1995, killing six people.
Source: Flight International