São Paulo – Rio de Janeiro

On October 31, 1996 at 08:27 AM, São Paulo – Rio de Janeiro experienced a crash involving Fokker 100, operated by TAM Brasil - Taxi Aéreo Marilia - Transportes Aéreos Regionais, with the event recorded near São Paulo-Congonhas São Paulo.

The flight was categorized as scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was takeoff (climb) at a city crash site.

95 people were known to be on board, 99 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 104.2%.

Crew on board: 6, crew fatalities: 6, passengers on board: 89, passenger fatalities: 89, other fatalities: 4.

The listed crash cause is technical failure. TAM flight 402 was a regular flight between São Paulo (CGH) and Rio de Janeiro (SDU). At 08:25 the flight received clearance for takeoff from runway 17R. Wind was given as 060 degrees. At 08:26:00 the throttles were advanced for takeoff power. Ten seconds later a double beep was heard. The captain said "O auto-throttle tá fora" and the copilot adjusted the throttles manually and informed the captain: "thrust check". With this information he confirmed that the takeoff power had been adjusted and verified. At 08:26:19 the airplane accelerated through 80 kts. At 08:26:32 the copilot indicated "V one". Two seconds later the airplane rotated at a speed of 131 kts. At 08:26:36 the air/ground switch transited from "ground" "to "air". The speed was 136 kts and the airplane was climbing at an angle of 10 degrees. At that same moment a shock was felt and the EPR of engine no. 2 dropped from 1.69 to 1.34, indicating the loss of power. In fact, the no. 2 engine thrust reverser had deployed. An eye witness confirmed to have seen at least two complete cycles of opening and closing of the no. 2 thrust reverser buckets during the flight. The loss of power on the right side caused the plane to roll to the right. The captain applied left rudder and left aileron to counteract the movement of the plane. The copilot advanced both thrust levers, but they retarded again almost immediately, causing the power of the no. 1 engine to drop to 1.328 EPR and engine no. 2 to 1,133 EPR. Both crew members were preoccupied by the movement of the throttles and did not know that the thrust reverser on the no. 2 engine had deployed. The throttles were forced forward again. At 08:26:44 the captain ordered the autothrottle to be disengaged. One second later the no. 2 thrust lever retarded again and remained at idle for two seconds. The airspeed fell to 126 kts. At 08:26:48 the copilot announced that he had disengaged the autothrottles. He then jammed the no. 2 thrust lever fully forward again. Both engines now reached 1,724 EPR. With the thrust reverser deployed, the airspeed declined at 2 kts per second. At 08:26:55 the stick shaker activated, warning of an impeding stall. The airplane rolled to a 39 degree bank angle and the GPWS activated: "Don't sink!". Seven seconds later the airplane impacted a building and crashed into a heavily populated neighborhood.

Aircraft reference details include registration PT-MRK, MSN 11440, year of manufacture 1993.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately -20.8056°, -49.4054°.