Although the relevance of the S7 accident to the TAM accident may be as yet tenuous, I find it hard to believe that the cause of the S7 accident was the failure of the left engine reverser. Surely the cause was the loss of control following forward thrust having been applied inadvertantly to the left engine?
As someone has already alluded to, the holes were 'inline' on the Swiss Cheese model. It is for the investigating authorities to determine the cause, which has had several notable factors mentioned, such as an MEL item, wet conditions on a newly surfaced, short runway and two Captains possibly on a tiring training day. Neither of the above factors should have caused such a tragedy on its' own, but when added to the landing weight and Vref and the possibility of a deeper and softer touchdown than desirable, they may all have contributed to this unfortunate overrun.