Plane crash kills nearly 200 in Sao Paulo

An Airbus carrying more than 170 people crashed after skidding off a runway at the Congonhas Airport Tuesday evening. It's believed all passengers and more than 20 people who were on the ground were killed in the accident. TAM airline flight 3054 had left Porto Alegre and was landing in Sao Paulo when it skidded off the runway and hit a cargo hangar situated next to it. According to witnesses, it immediately exploded, engulfing the hangar in flames.

Situated in downtown Sao Paulo, the Congonhas runway has often been criticized for being too short and slippery under rainy conditions. It was recently renovated, but critics say the new tarmac had not yet been totally prepared to get rid of excess water quickly enough. On Monday, a smaller plane had already skidded off a runway, stopping in the ditch dividing the two main runways in the airport. It's the second large airplane accident in Brazil in the last ten months. In September, a Gol Airlines Boeing crashed on a smaller plane above the Amazon. All 154 people aboard the Boeing died, while the smaller plane was able to land safely shortly after the mid-air collision.

Unwanted pregnancy leads to increase in violence

A new study shows that an unwanted pregnancy may be a much stronger factor in the increase of violence related incidents than other components usually believed to encourage violent acts, such as economic or inequality factors. According to the new study, undertaken by economist Gabriel Hartung in Brazil, the number of violent incidents is directly related to the number of children living with single mothers. A decrease in this number of children - usually a result of an unwanted pregnancy - could be three times more efficient in reducing violence than a similar decrease in inequality levels and four times as efficient than an equivalent economic growth. According to Mr. Hartung, heard by the Agencia Estado news agency, birth control would be the most efficient way of reducing violence levels in Brazil. The link between unwanted pregnancies and violence is the environment in which the child grows up, usually a home where the mother lives without a partner, struggling to make ends meet.

Brazilian Congress blames American pilots for accident

The Brazilian Chamber of Deputies (Lower House of Congress) has blamed the American pilots of the Legacy jet Joseph Lepore and Jan Paladino, together with four Brazilian air traffic controllers, for the accident between the jet and a Boeing in September 2006. The accident killed 154 people, all aboard the Boeing.

The report was presented today by Congressman Marco Maia, who prepared it for a special Congress Investigation Comission created to study the problems in air travel in the country. After the accident, Brazilians have been experiencing several delays and problems with air travel in the country, with the air traffic control structure being severely questioned by authorities and the general public.