Brazil and aircraft accidents

[Vincentomoh]

I think Brazil is a very unlucky country, relatively speaking, in terms of aviation accidents in the late 2000s.

The Brazilian government declared three days of national mourning each for the following accidents:
* Gol 1907 (2006)
* TAM 3054 (2007)
* Air France 447 (2009)
All three were "everyone on board is dead" accidents with hundreds of people dead per accident. While AF 447 actually crashed in international waters, many of the passengers were Brazilian and the Brazilian Navy recovered parts of the aircraft.

Will the three accidents have an effect on Brazilian aviation culture? Already the Brazilian government has taken some steps to make aviation within the country safer (aftet the Gol and TAM accidents), but I wonder if the coincidence will have an effect on Brazilian culture.

[EconomyClass]

Brazil is across the equator from most important destinations. People who fly out of there are always more at risk.

[Peter Kesternich]

Well, I think you'd have a hard time proving that flying across the Equator is more dangerous than other routes. For example Qantas has to do it all the time and so far they have not lost a single aircraft and are still considered one of the safest airlines in the world.

As for the three accidents mentioned: I don't think they will have any effect on Brazilian culture per se and even Brazilian AVIATION culture won't be much affected. Only the TAM accident in 2007 was an accident with causes rooted in the aviation system itself and the Brazilian government and the Brazilian airlines have taken steps to prevent a recurrence by imposing limits on the use of Sao Paulo Congonhas airport. As for the GOL crash - there's nothing much anyone can do if a flight crew disobeys ATC, and it wasn't the GOL crew doing anything wrong.

[Vincentomoh]

As for the GOL crash - there's nothing much anyone can do if a flight crew disobeys ATC, and it wasn't the GOL crew doing anything wrong.

The final reports of the Gol accident from CENIPA and the NTSB both said that the Legacy crew was not deliberately disobeying ATC requests (they do disagree on other matters, but this isn't one of them). The Embraer Legacy went to and stayed at the altitude instructed by the ATC system.

In fact, the Gol accident was also contributing to aviation safety in Brazil, as people realized the issues with the air traffic control system.

[Vincentomoh]

Ack, I just realized I made a typo. I meant to say that the "Legacy crew was not deliberately disobeying ATC requests (they do disagree on other matters, but this isn't one of them)"

Of course the Gol crew was complying with its ATC requests too. The point is that CENIPA and the NTSB both said that the air traffic control system had a role in the Gol accident. CENIPA said that the pilots made some mistakes due to a lack of training, while the NTSB said that the pilots did nothing wrong. Either way, neither party said that the Legacy pilots willfully disobeyed orders.