plane just crashed in Brazil

[Sister Alvear]

A plane just over shot the runway in Sao Paulo Brazil. Firefighters are at the scene.
170 passengers were in it...All you can see at the moment is flames...
Please pray...

[Margies3]

Sis A., I saw this on the 6:30 news here. They said 150 passengers and no survivors. I wanted to post it here, but was concerned that if by any wild chance you might have someone on that plane, I didn't want you to find out about the crash here.

I am already praying for the families and for the country of Brazil.

[Sister Alvear]

Several of us are flying out early in the morning to Sao Paulo...please pray for our safety.

[Sister Alvear]

My neighbor just called me that Brazil confirmed all were dead...I hope it is not true but it probably is...

[Sister Alvear]

SAO PAULO, Brazil - A plane crashed and burst into flames after skidding off a runway that had been criticized as being too short at Brazil's busiest airport, and all 176 people aboard were feared dead, the state governor said.

The Tam airline jet slid off the runway at Congonhas airport in a driving rain, then barreled across a busy road at the height of rush hour before slamming into a gas station and a building owned by the airline, said Jose Leonardi Mota, a spokesman with airport authority Infraero.

TV footage showed flames and clouds of black smoke billowing into the air after the crash.

"I was told that the temperature inside the plane was 1,000 degrees (Celsius), so the chances of there being any survivors are practically nil," Sao Paulo State Gov. Jose Serra told reporters at the airport. That temperature in Celsius is equivalent to about 1,830 degrees Fahrenheit.

As many as 12 people on the ground were injured and taken to hospitals, Serra said.

Tam worker Elias Rodrigues Jesus, walking near the site just as the crash happened, told The Associated Press that the jet exploded in between the gas station and a warehouse owned by Tam.

"All of a sudden I heard a loud explosion, and the ground beneath my feet shook," said Jesus, who added that he saw one charred body. "I looked up and I saw a huge ball of fire, and then I smelled the stench of kerosene and sulfur."

Tam Linhas Aereas flight 3054 was en route to Sao Paulo from the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre with 170 passengers six crew members, Tam said in a statement.

"At this moment, we cannot determine the extent of possible injuries suffered by the airplanes occupants and crew members," the airline said in a statement.

Distraught relatives of passengers crowded Tam's check-in counters in Porto Alegre, complaining hours after the crash that the airline had not yet released a passenger list, Globo TV reported.

The accident happened during heavy rains, and critics have said for years that such an accident was possible at the airport because its runway is too short for large planes landing in rainy weather.

A federal court in February briefly banned takeoffs and landings of large jets at the airport because of safety concerns at the airport, which handles huge volumes of flights for the massive domestic Brazilian air travel market.

But an appeals court overruled the ban, saying it was too harsh because it would have severe economic ramifications and that there were not enough safety concerns to prevent the planes from landing and taking off the airport.

Tuesday's crash came 10 months after Brazil's deadliest crash, a September collision between a Gol Aerolinhas Inteligentes SA Boeing 737 and an executive jet over the Amazon rainforest.

All 154 people on the Gol jet died. The executive jet landed safely.

The crash highlighted Brazil's increasing aviation woes, as a surge in travelers overwhelms underfunded air traffic control systems. A Brazilian judge indicted four flight controllers and the smaller jet's two U.S. pilots on the equivalent of manslaughter charges, but the defendants point to other problems — from holes in radar coverage to the inability of some Brazilian controllers to clearly speak English, the language of international aviation.

Controllers — concerned about being made scapegoats — have engaged in strikes and work slowdowns to raise safety concerns, causing or exacerbating lengthy delays and cancelations.

Angry travelers have stormed airline check-in counters and runways in Brazil, and fistfights have broken out in waiting areas.

[CC1]

I saw this news report tonight on my Blackberry while eating at a restaurant. My first thoughts were of the Alvear family and I prayed that all of you and yours are safe. Of course I am praying for all of the vicitms and families.

[Bishop1]

OVER 200 DEAD _


Bishop1

[Sister Alvear]

yes, and they are still fighting the fire...it is horrible...only those that live in countries like Brazil can really understand how unequipped the fire department really is...
and then imagine where I live...
so sad...

[Sister Alvear]

and we travel to there tomorrow with some...please pray for our safety...it is so dangerous here...

[jwharv]

When things like this happen, I always wonder how many were ready to meet the Lord....................