30 years ago, Sandra Assali had taken her husband, cardiologist José Rahal Abu Assali, to Congonhas Airport, in the south of São Paulo. He was going to board a flight from the then TAM airline (now Latam) bound for Rio de Janeiro, where he would teach at a conference. It would be a back and forth, as the return to the capital of São Paulo was expected on the same day.
But the cardiologist never reached his destination. Just 24 seconds after takeoff, according to the final report prepared by the Center for Investigation and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents (Cenipa), the aircraft he was on hit three buildings and fell on top of several houses on Rua Luís Orsini de Castro, about 2 kilometers from the airport. As the plane crashed, it caught fire, killing all 96 people on board. Three people who were on the ground also died.
The accident occurred at around 8:30 am on October 31, 1996. Sandra had two young children at the time. “Grief is permanent”, she says to the Agência Brasil report.
"The loss of someone always leaves a mark. You remember the moment you received this news. Imagine it for a family member. For me, the memory I have was of leaving my husband at the airport and, in a matter of 40 minutes, I already had confirmation of his loss."
According to Sandra, continuing to talk about the accident is important to “keep this date alive” and to keep herself moving. "This is very important because this is what moves us, what makes us make things happen. Life is priceless, so this is an eternal subject", he stated.
The association
After the accident, the lives of Sandra and all those families changed completely. "Life literally takes a turn. And you find yourself a father and a mother, something that wasn't planned. In fact, none of that was planned. On the contrary, the plans were many others. And then you have to let everything go because now there is something new in your life. Receiving this information, with this impact, and having to work this information within yourself is very complicated, in addition to the fact that you are impacted, in shock, in suffering. It was very complex", he said.
Without having received the necessary support from the company, she and other family members of victims helped create the first association about an air accident in Brazil, the Brazilian Association of Relatives and Friends of Air Accident Victims (Abrapavaa), of which Sandra is president. One of the great milestones of this association was helping to change aviation in Brazil.
Until 1996, when the accident occurred, airlines were still not required to provide assistance to the families of accident victims. But, with a lot of struggle, the association managed to ensure that companies were obliged to guarantee support and assistance to family members in the event of plane accidents.
"There is a before and after this accident. The way of investigating [an air accident] has changed, the form of compensation has changed, the way of working with family reparations has also changed. It has even changed assistance for families of victims, which did not exist and came to exist with Abrapavaa. The association brought, mainly, a way of dealing with the victims' families. This was one of the jobs that we achieved", highlighted the president.
Since it was created in 1997, the association has held a series of congresses and monitored more than 300 air accidents. "This year alone, we had 135 accidents in Brazil. There are many accidents and there are many things that, certainly, can be changed and improved", reinforced Sandra.
The accident
The crash of TAM's Fokker 100 was caused by a failure in the right turbine reverser (the aerodynamic brake), which opened during takeoff. The reverser opens to slow the plane, preparing it for landing. But, that day, it opened during takeoff, in mid-flight. This was like applying the brakes at a time when the aircraft needed to accelerate to gain more lift. A problem for which the pilot and co-pilot had not been trained, as the chances of this occurring were extremely rare, on the order of one in 100 billion.
Destabilized, the Fokker 100 "tumbled" to the right and hit buildings and houses until it stopped, causing the death of three people on the ground, as well as killing passengers and crew. After investigating the causes of the accident, no person was held responsible for the tragedy.
Contacted by Agência Brasil, Latam Airlines Brasil informed that it sympathizes with all the people impacted by the tragic accident. In a statement, the company highlights that, although it is aware that nothing will compensate for the losses of loved ones, “it was committed, from the first moment, to supporting family members in every possible way”.
“The company informs that the causes of the accident were clarified in a report from the Center for Investigation and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents (Cenipa), published in 1997. The document included necessary recommendations on changes to procedures adopted by the company at the time, in addition to requesting technical modifications from the aircraft manufacturer, whose model left the fleet in 2008”, wrote the airline.
