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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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Jet Crashes, Explodes in Brazil

Airbus skids off runway, reviving safety scandal

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(Newser) – A plane with up to 178 passengers and crew skidded off a Brazilian runway in heavy rain, careered across a traffic-snarled road, slammed into a gas station and exploded in a huge ball of fire. The accident happened as a Tam Airlines Airbus was landing in Sao Paolo after a flight from Porto Alegre last night.

"I saw a huge ball of fire, and then I smelled the stench of kerosene and sulfur," said a witness. The airport's runway has been criticized as too short —just one of a host of problems besetting Brazil's airline industry. In February a judge closed the airport to large jets but the ban was later lifted.

Firefighters try to extinguish a fire at the site where a TAM airlines commercial jet crashed in Sao Paulo, Tuesday, July 17, 2007. The plane with as many as 170 people aboard crashed and burst into flames in Sao Paulo after skidding off a runway that has been criticized as...
Firefighters try to extinguish a fire at the site where a TAM airlines commercial jet crashed in Sao Paulo, Tuesday, July 17, 2007. The plane with as many as 170 people aboard crashed and burst into flames...   (Associated Press)
Authorities work at the site where a TAM airlines commercial jet crashed in Sao Paulo, Tuesday, July 17, 2007. The plane with as many as 170 people aboard crashed and burst into flames in Sao Paulo after skidding off a runway that has been criticized as being too short, in...
Authorities work at the site where a TAM airlines commercial jet crashed in Sao Paulo, Tuesday, July 17, 2007. The plane with as many as 170 people aboard crashed and burst into flames in Sao Paulo after...   (Associated Press)
Firefighters try to extinguish a fire at the site where a TAM airlines commercial jet crashed in Sao Paulo, Tuesday, July 17, 2007. The plane with as many as 170 people aboard crashed and burst into flames in Sao Paulo after skidding off a runway that has been criticized as...
Firefighters try to extinguish a fire at the site where a TAM airlines commercial jet crashed in Sao Paulo, Tuesday, July 17, 2007. The plane with as many as 170 people aboard crashed and burst into flames...   (Associated Press)
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