| Cockpit recorder reveals pilots terror in Brazil plane crash |
The pilots of TAM Airlines flight 3054 screamed "slow down!" and "turn, turn, turn!" seconds before their Airbus A320 skidded off the runway in Sao Paulo and slammed into a building last month, flight recorder transcripts revealed Wednesday.
According to transcripts read before a congressional commission investigating air safety in Brazil, the pilots were unable to activate the spoilers as they sped down the short, rain-slicked runway.
"Only one reverser. Spoiler nothing," says pilot Henrique Stephanini Di Sacco, 53, giving the first indication that something is wrong.
"Look at that. Slow down, slow down," says co-pilot Kleyber Lima, 54. Di Sacco replies: "I can't. I can't. Oh my God! Oh my God!"
Lima's last words are: "Go! Go! Turn! Turn! Turn!"
The recording ends with screams and a woman's voice, followed by an explosion.
The July 17 crash at Congonhas airport killed all 187 aboard the jetliner and 12 people on the ground in Brazil's deadliest air disaster.
The congressional commission did not review the data recorder information publicly, but seemed to acknowledge the report's accuracy.
The commission's president, Rep. Marco Maia, said he believes mechanical failure was behind the crash.
"From what we have determined, we can confirm that the machine failed," Maia told reporters in Brasilia. But he added that investigators must still "thoroughly examine all the possibilities."
The airline has acknowledged that one of the jet's thrust reversers, used for braking, had been deactivated before the crash. Planes are allowed to fly with only one functioning thrust reverser, but it can make braking more difficult.
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