Brazil's Federal Public Ministry is calling for Sao Paulo's Congonhas airport to be closed in the wake of Tuesday's Tam Airlines crash in which some 200 people died.
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| Firemen work to recover the victims of the crash of a TAM airlines Airbus A320 |
The Ministry said in statement the airport should shut "until its security conditions are examined".
The debate over the cause of Brazil's worst air crash began to shift today to potential pilot error or mechanical failures.
Since Tuesday's crash at Sao Paulo's Congonhas airport that killed around 200 people, many officials and aviation experts have focused on the rain-soaked runway that the plane skidded off before slamming into a gas station and cargo terminal.
But a video of the landing of the Airbus A320 released by the national airport authority suggests other factors may have been at play in Brazil's second major aviation disaster in less than a year.
The footage appears to show the TAM Linhas Aereas plane accelerating instead of braking when it touched down on the short runway - perhaps because the pilot was trying to lift off again.
"The government is clearly trying to convince public opinion that the runway at Congonhas was not at fault," said Elnio Borges, president of the Varig Pilots' Association. "They're going to do everything they can to blame the pilot."
Officials estimate up to 200 people were killed in the crash, including casualties on the ground and all 186 passengers and crew on board.
By this afternoon, firefighters had pulled 181 bodies from the smoldering wreckage.
Four badly injured victims have died in hospital, bringing the official toll to 185. At the TAM cargo building hit by the plane, as many as five employees were still missing.
The crash highlighted long-standing safety concerns about Sao Paulo's aging domestic airport. Congonhas, which sits in the middle of South America's largest city, is known for its short and slick runways.