My outlook.
Airport Authority are doing runway works. To shut down the airport will cost a lot of money. Short runway and it is not grooved. If the AA had any kind of responsibility, as soon as it rained the airport should have been closed.
Probably would have been closed an hour or so. Again, it is all down to money. No one in the AA will shut down the runway, so the responsibility will rest with the pilot and in the end they will be blamed.
Now, TAM says it is legal to approach with a reverser inop. Now my question is………….. before the runway works was the runway grooved? Maybe the crew thought on paper in was achievable. Maybe there was more rain than normal. I don’t know.
Did they land long? I don’t know.
Ultimately we as pilots are responsible for our aircraft, but
Learn by others pilot’s mistakes, we will not live long enough to learn them all our selves.
There by the grace of God, Go I.
There are many overruns because of heavy rain and aquaplaning. My advice, if below 200 ft on a cat 1 approach, if you hit a wall of water due to thunderstorm or just heavy rain or you think the runway has a lot of water on it, GO AROUND! If you don’t have enough gas, well grown some balls and take more.
For the TAM Crew and the 14 crew onboard, I don’t know what happened but I bet it will come out as nobody accounted for the runway works, no grooved, smooth runway after works and the boys just sailed off the end Maybe the reverser did not come in. It’s over.
I wish I just had those 45 seconds back; they could have changed the world.
Think about it.
IMHO. Bad day in aviation. Let’s learn from it.
BTW, if the A320 went around, with it best co of lift, it would have been farther from the airport. It can fly at the best COL and it would have flown further.
After reverse is pulled, you are staying whether you like it or not. Then you have to pick the best spot to go. Doesn’t help when you have a 50’ drop to a highway.