non-pilot speaking: If the photo in #195 shows standing water being illuminated by the landing lights, then they would have had little chance.
DtA in #200:
But what doesn't make sense is that the pilots (both captains I understand) were based at Congonhas and very experienced on type and at the airport. They would have surely landed there hundreds of times in the past, thereby knowing the exact performance of the aircraft in relation to the runway.
Not necessarily. As you will doubtless have read, the runway had just been resurfaced, was in the process of 'curing' and not yet grooved. This was the first sustained rain on it and so pilots could not be expected to know the expected performance.