2006–2007 Brazilian aviation crisis
Encyclopedia
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
's civil aviation
Civil aviation
Civil aviation is one of two major categories of flying, representing all non-military aviation, both private and commercial. Most of the countries in the world are members of the International Civil Aviation Organization and work together to establish common standards and recommended practices...
system characterized by massive flight delays and cancellations, air traffic controller
Air traffic controller
Air traffic controllers are the people who expedite and maintain a safe and orderly flow of air traffic in the global air traffic control system. The position of the air traffic controller is one that requires highly specialized skills...
strikes and safety concerns about Brazil's airport and air traffic infrastructure. It ostensibly started after the crash of Gol Flight 1907 in September 2006, and extended to January 2008. While the government has announced a series of measures aimed at mitigating its effects, no clear solution has been found. In Brazil the crisis has been dubbed "Apagão Aéreo" ("Aerial Blackout"), an allusion to an energy crisis which Brazil experienced between 2001 and 2002.
Brazil's air traffic control system
Brazil's air traffic control system is run by the Brazilian Air ForceBrazilian Air Force
The Brazilian Air Force is the air branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces and one of the three national uniformed services. The FAB was formed when the Army and Navy air branch were merged into a single military force initially called "National Air Forces"...
(FAB). While some approach control
Terminal Control Center
A terminal radar approach control is an air traffic control facility usually located within the vicinity of a large airport. Typically, the TRACON controls aircraft within a 20-50 nautical mile radius of the major airport and a number of "satellite airports" between surface and up to between and...
s and control tower
Control tower
A control tower, or more specifically an Air Traffic Control Tower , is the name of the airport building from which the air traffic control unit controls the movement of aircraft on and around the airport. Control towers are also used to control the traffic for other forms of transportation such...
s may have civilian controllers, the vast majority are military non-commissioned officer
Non-commissioned officer
A non-commissioned officer , called a sub-officer in some countries, is a military officer who has not been given a commission...
s supervised by commissioned officers (with the totality of ARTCCs
Area Control Center
In air traffic control, an Area Control Center , also known as a Center, is a facility responsible for controlling instrument flight rules aircraft en route in a particular volume of airspace at high altitudes between airport approaches and departures...
being staffed by the military, under a department called Department of Airspace Control (Departamento de Controle de Espaço Aéreo).
The use of military air traffic controllers for civilian traffic is not unusual, but has been deprecated in most developed countries. In the US, the Federal Aviation Administration
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...
(FAA) operates a wholly parallel system with that of the US Air Force and NORAD
North American Aerospace Defense Command
North American Aerospace Defense Command is a joint organization of Canada and the United States that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and defense for the two countries. Headquarters NORAD is located at Peterson AFB, Colorado Springs, Colorado...
. This is also the case of Eurocontrol
European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation
EUROCONTROL is the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation. Founded in 1963, it is an international organisation working for seamless, pan-European air traffic management. EUROCONTROL is a civil organisation and currently has 39 member states; its headquarters are in...
and each of its member nations' air defense systems. Brazil's use of an integrated command poses some unique challenges to the government. As members of the military, controllers are not allowed to form unions (such as the case of NATCA
National Air Traffic Controllers Association
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association is a labor union in the United States. It is affiliated with the AFL-CIO, and is the exclusive bargaining representative for air traffic controllers employed by the Federal Aviation Administration...
in the US) or to strike
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
.
While the air traffic control system saw significant improvement with the implementation of the Amazon Surveillance System (SIVAM) in the northern portion of the country, there were many warning signs that the system as a whole was heading towards an untenable situation. In 2003 the Brazilian Air Force warned of the need for upgraded equipment and additional funding. For three years, budget requests submitted by DECEA, the Air Force department in charge of air traffic control, were denied. The government's Tribunal de Contas da União (Union Accounting Tribunal), an agency similar to the US Government Accountability Office
Government Accountability Office
The Government Accountability Office is the audit, evaluation, and investigative arm of the United States Congress. It is located in the legislative branch of the United States government.-History:...
, issued a report after the crisis which echoed the FAB's concerns, stating that a lack of planning and underfunding of the air traffic control system by the federal government was to blame for the crisis.
Gol Flight 1907
On September 29, 2006, a Gol Transportes Aéreos
Gol Transportes Aéreos
Gol Transportes Aéreos is a Brazilian airline based in Comandante Lineu Gomes Square, São Paulo City, Brazil....
Boeing 737-800 collided with an Embraer Legacy 600 over the state of Mato Grosso
Mato Grosso
Mato Grosso is one of the states of Brazil, the third largest in area, located in the western part of the country.Neighboring states are Rondônia, Amazonas, Pará, Tocantins, Goiás and Mato Grosso do Sul. It also borders Bolivia to the southwest...
, leading to the loss of 154 lives in what was, at the time, the deadliest air disaster in Brazilian history. It was also the highest death toll of any accident involving a Boeing 737. The report on the crash issued by Brazil's Aeronautical Accidents Investigation and Prevention Center (Centro de Investigação e Prevenção de Acidentes Aeronáuticos, CENIPA) concluded that the American pilots flying the Embraer Legacy contributed to the accident by their failure to recognize that their transponder
Transponder (aviation)
A transponder is an electronic device that produces a response when it receives a radio-frequency interrogation...
was inadvertently switched off, thereby disabling the collision avoidance system on both aircraft, as well as their overall insufficient training and preparation. CENIPA also noted that several errors by the air traffic controllers contributed to the accident. Pilots and controllers blamed for Brazil crash, AP
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
on Fox News
The Legacy aircraft's transponder
Transponder (aviation)
A transponder is an electronic device that produces a response when it receives a radio-frequency interrogation...
was found to have been off from 54 minutes before the time of the crash until 3 minutes after, when the crew turned it on again. Footage of the radar screens at the time of the incident reveals that the primary radar lost contact with the Legacy 28 minutes after Legacy's transponder was inadvertently turned off.
Following this accident, many technology and personnel issues were made public, pointing to the poor situation of Brazilian aviation's infrastructure and transforming the crash into a catalyst for the crisis. Facing the possibility of being blamed for an accident which—in their opinion—could have been avoided by appropriate corrective measures, the air traffic controllers decided to take protest action.
Air traffic control chaos
Work-to-rule
Work-to-rule is an industrial action in which employees do no more than the minimum required by the rules of their contract, and follow safety or other regulations to the letter in order to cause a slowdown rather than to serve their purpose. This is considered less disruptive than a strike or...
protest which culminated in massive flight delays and protests from passengers and airlines alike. The apex of the crisis occurred in December 2006. Due to a combination of equipment failures, understaffed ATC and the holiday travel season, travel at many Brazilian airports stopped altogether for some days. With the airlines unable to clear the backlog of passengers due to the canceled flights, and under pressure to solve the crisis from the general public, the government pressed into service several Brazilian Air Force jets, including one of the president's own planes.
International organizations joined the protest by complaining of the work conditions experienced by the Brazilian air traffic controllers, citing long hours and low pay. At the same time, two different congressional inquiries were established to look into the matter. The executive branch's own inter-ministerial work-group concluded that the issue could be partly solved by both demilitarizing the air traffic control system and reinvesting the user fees and taxes levied on aviation back into the national air traffic control system.
On March 30, 2007, nearly 100 controllers walked out to protest their working conditions. The walkout occurred soon after President Lula left the country for a summit with US president George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
. Lula was reported to have said he felt as if he had been "backstabbed".
On July 21, 2007, a short-circuit at a communications relay shut down CINDACTA-4 for over three hours (from 23:15 to 02:30). While this incident was relatively short-lived, its consequences were emblematic of the crisis as a whole: 45% of the following day's flights suffered delays or cancellations.
TAM Airlines Flight 3054
On July 17, 2007, a fully loaded TAM Airlines Airbus A320
Airbus A320
The Airbus A320 family is a family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger jet airliners manufactured by Airbus Industrie.Airbus was originally a consortium of European aerospace companies, and is now fully owned by EADS. Airbus's name has been Airbus SAS since 2001...
aircraft ran off a runway at Congonhas-São Paulo International Airport, crashed into a warehouse and exploded, resulting in nearly 200 fatalities. The Brazilian press was quick to add this to a growing list of civil aviation woes, and pressed the government for changes. On September 31, 2009, more than two years after the accident, CENIPA announced the result of official investigations. The report said that one of the thrust levers, which control the airliner's engines, was in a power-on position when it should have been in idle, but it was not proved if there was mechanical or human failure as the cause of the accident. In addition to the positions of the thrust levers, the report listed several factors that may have contributed to the accident, as a high volume of rain on the day, with the formation of puddles on the runway, and the absence of grooving. The report does not blame the length of the runway as a factor in the accident.
Administration reaction
The administration's reaction began with an internal conflict between the military and civilian leadership on whether to negotiate with the air traffic controllers. Given their military position, they were not entitled to negotiate or press grievances outside their chain of command. The civilian government pressed for a pragmatic approach, while the military, with a view to guarding discipline, took a more hardline view. While the civilian government initially negotiated with the controllers, in June 2007, Lula's government sacked 14 military controllers and arrested 2 others for mutinyMutiny
Mutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly situated individuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow an authority to which they are subject...
.
With the public, the administration has been heavily criticized by sometimes insensitive comments. On June 9, 2007, asked by reporters what passengers should do while waiting for the delayed flights, the Minister of Tourism, Marta Suplicy
Marta Suplicy
Marta Teresa Smith de Vasconcelos Suplicy is a Brazilian politician and psychologist. She was Mayor of São Paulo from 2001 to 2004 as a member of the Brazilian Workers' Party...
, replied "relaxa e goza" ("relax and enjoy"), a sexual expression relating to coitus, which can also mean "not to care". Marta apologized officially on the same day, expressing regret over an "unfortunate" comment.
Three weeks later, Finance Minister Guido Mantega
Guido Mantega
Guido Mantega is a Brazilian economist, politician and currently Brazil's Finance Minister. He graduated in Economics from the Faculdade de Economia, Administração e Contabilidade of the University of São Paulo and is a professor of Economics at several leading universities of São Paulo.He has...
tried to minimize the crisis, saying that the crisis was the price of prosperity. He said that he believed the crisis was due to the "increase in the flow of traffic due to the country's prosperity."
In July 2007, after the TAM Flight 3054 crash, a Rede Globo
Rede Globo
Rede Globo , or simply Globo, is a Brazilian television network, launched by media mogul Roberto Marinho on April 26, 1965. It is owned by media conglomerate Organizações Globo, being by far the largest of its holdings...
story reported that the airplane's right thrust reverser was inoperative at the time of the crash. A camera set up by Globo caught a top presidential adviser, Marco Aurélio Garcia
Marco Aurélio Garcia
Marco Aurélio Garcia is a Brazilian politician, and a member of the Workers' Party . He is a former Professor of Latin American History at UNICAMP University. He served as interim party president from 6 October 2006 to 2 January 2007. Ricardo Berzoini preceded and succeeded Garcia as party president...
, inside the Palácio do Planalto
Palácio do Planalto
The Palácio do Planalto is the official workplace of the President of Brazil. It is located at the Praça dos Três Poderes in Brasília, Brazil. As the seat of government, the term Planalto is often used as a metonym for the executive branch of the government.The main working office of the President...
, apparently celebrating with an aide immediately after watching the newscast, ostensibly due to the blame placed on the federal administration's policies for the crash. The gestures, which were colloquially understood as being obscene, were widely condemned in the media. Relatives of those who died in the crash asked for their resignation.
Ten months after the beginning of the crisis, on July 2007, President Lula made a statement on national TV, in which he acknowledged the existence of a crisis, and while he did not offer specific measures to improve the air traffic control system, he did commit the administration to solving some of the criticisms levied on Congonhas Airport. During the following week, the President fired the Minister of Defense, Waldir Pires
Waldir Pires
Francisco Waldir Pires de Sousa is a politician of Brazil. He is the former Minister of Defence for President Luis Ignácio "Lula" da Silva, fired due to gross incompetence and inaction during Brazil's aviation crisis of 2006-2007. At the time of the crisis, he was accused by some in Brazil of...
. The new minister is former Supreme Federal Tribunal president Nelson Jobim
Nelson Jobim
Nelson Azevedo Jobim is a Brazilian jurist and politician. He served as the Minister of Defense of Brazil from 2007-2011. He is a distant relative of musician Antonio Carlos Jobim.-Early life:...
.
See also
- TAM Linhas Aéreas Flight 402
- Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907 was a Boeing 737-8EH, registration PR-GTD, on a scheduled passenger flight from Manaus, Brazil, to Rio de Janeiro. On 29 September 2006, just before 17:00 BRT, it collided in midair with an Embraer Legacy business jet over the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso...
- TAM Linhas Aéreas Flight 3054
- List of notable accidents and incidents on commercial aircraft
- Air safetyAir safetyAir safety is a term encompassing the theory, investigation and categorization of flight failures, and the prevention of such failures through regulation, education and training. It can also be applied in the context of campaigns that inform the public as to the safety of air travel.-United...
- List of the busiest airports in Brazil