A Tragedy Foretold: Flight 3054 - What happened to TAM Airlines Flight 3054? Details from Netflix docu-series, explored

A Tragedy Foretold: Flight 3054, which premiered on Netflix on April 23, 2025, is a three-part documentary that revisits a devastating aviation accident that took place in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on July 17, 2007. On the dreaded day, TAM Airlines Flight 3054 met with an accident while landing at the Congonhas Airport in São Paulo that resulted in the death of 199 people. It is considered to be the biggest aviation tragedy in Latin America.

The Netflix documentary brings forth the events of the day as well as the investigation that followed. A Tragedy Foretold: Flight 3054 tells the story through interviews with the family members of the victims, original footage and detailed commentary highlighting the negligence in safety measures.

The families recall receiving the shocking news, and waiting to identify the bodies that were annihilated in the explosion. Many had to even wait up to 30 days.

What happened to TAM Airlines Flight 3054?

On July 17, 2007, TAM Airlines Flight 3054 was arriving at Congonhas Airport in São Paulo, from Porto Alegre. The flight had 187 people on board. It was raining on the day of the scheduled arrival. Because of the rain, the runway was wet and lacked the traction, which would have helped the aircraft brake effectively.

The Airbus A320 overran and crashed into a TAM warehouse building across the airport. It exploded immediately, killing the passengers and 12 individuals who were working on the ground. As per The Guardian, Elias Rodrigues de Jesus, an airport employee, told the Diario de Sao Paulo newspaper,

“The smoke began to rise and all I could see were the bodies falling, people throwing themselves off.”

Ivan Sant'anna, an author and aviation expert, shared,

"This was a pre-announced tragedy - it was always going to end up happening. Talk to any commercial pilot off the record and he'll tell you that the runway is dangerous and that in the rain it becomes slippery."

During the investigation, it was brought to light that post the recent renovations, which had happened about 20 days before, the runway lacked proper grooving to drain water. The cockpit voice recorder also had the pilots relay that only one control was functioning.

A BBC report states that during the trial, the prosecutors said that the A320 pilots had not been trained to deal with emergency landing. TAM Airlines also admitted that two trust reverses were defective and were deactivated.

As per Time, Brazilian government agency, the Aeronautical Accidents Investigation and Prevention Center, also known as CENIPA, reported that the aviation accident was caused due to human and operational errors. Post the incident, 83 safety norms were recommended to the aviation industry, which included the visual and audio warning system.

A Tragedy Foretold: Flight 3054 is streaming on Netflix

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