Sallyann1234 says:
If ever there was a case for siting an airport somewhere else outside the city this must surely be it.
If ever there were a case for prohibiting construction within obvious clear zones of an existing airport, this must surely be it. While I don't know which came first (the airport or the community) in Sao Paulo, I do know that Chicago Midway was once surrounded by farmland.
What are the costs of buying up the vulnerable land off the ends of the runway, vs. the costs of an (I daresay predictable) accident such as this?