The news continues digging; media today says there were at least six complaints from crew after landings on Mon/Tue. A timeline from those:
Monday 16th
07:30 Gol 1879 “runway’s not all that great – low adherence”
07:31 TAM 3020 “runway somewhat slippery”
12:25 runway inspected
12:42 Pantanal ATR-42 skids off on landing
13:48 Tam 3215, managed to stop at end of runway
??:?? TAM 3461
??:?? Gol 1203
Tuesday 17th
Morning, change of shift briefing at which concern expressed over runway conditions and the complaints from pilots. Meeting to discuss with ATC boss scheduled for 18th
17:05 Gol 1697 reports runway slippery
17:07 Runway inspection ordered, ops suspended for 13 minutes
17:20 Runway reopened
17:50 TAM 3054 leaves runway end
Eyewitnesses
There were five controllers in the tower at CGH at the time of the accident, plus two ANAC employees. Two controllers saw the TAM flight land and crash; one said the aircraft seemed to accelerate.
The runway was closed to operations after the crash, for inspection. It seems that, when the TAM aircraft ran across the grass, it damaged the drainage system. After heavy rain most of today the earthworks beneath the point where it went off have started to collapse.