Sad!!!! VERY sad...
A plane said to be carrying at least 144 people has crashed into a fuel and cargo depot at Congonhas airport in Sao Paulo, Brazil, starting a major fire.
There has been no confirmation of casualties, but emergency services have arrived at the scene and television images show the plane in flames.
The TAM airlines Airbus A320 is thought to have skidded and overshot the runway as it landed in very wet conditions.
Concerns have been raised about the safety of the runway during heavy rain.
There had been persistent, heavy rain in the two hours preceding the accident.
On Monday afternoon, a smaller plane skidded off the runway onto the nearby grass in similar conditions.
Major fire
TAM Linhas Aereas flight 3054 was believed to have been carrying between 144 and 174 people when it attempted to land at Congonhas airport in the heart of Sao Paulo.
The plane was travelling to the city from Porto Alegre in the south of the country.
After touching down on the airport's main runway, the passenger jet skidded before sliding across a busy road in a residential area.
It then struck a depot used by TAM for storing cargo and some fuel.
Brazilian television has been showing pictures of a major fire at the scene and the emergency services have arrived in large numbers to deal with the aftermath of the accident.
Eyewitnesses say there has also been an explosion at a nearby garage, which is complicating rescue work.
Safety concerns
The BBC's Gary Duffy in Sao Paolo says the weather has been bad for much of the day and there has been concern for some time about safety at Congonhas during heavy rain.
In February, a judge briefly banned flights in and out of the airport, which is the busiest in Brazil.
Pilots had complained that water was pooling on the surface of the landing strip, making braking difficult and occasionally causing planes to skid out of control.
Remedial work, including putting grooves into the runway surface to improve traction, was subsequently carried out and completed on 30 June.
However, a much smaller plane skidded off the runway before stopping on grass in similar weather conditions on Monday. No-one was injured in the incident.
Air safety in Brazil has been a major issue since a crash last year when a passenger plane collided with an executive jet over the Amazon, our correspondent says.
Some 154 people died in that incident, which was the worst air crash in the country's history.
There has been no confirmation of casualties, but emergency services have arrived at the scene and television images show the plane in flames.
The TAM airlines Airbus A320 is thought to have skidded and overshot the runway as it landed in very wet conditions.
Concerns have been raised about the safety of the runway during heavy rain.
There had been persistent, heavy rain in the two hours preceding the accident.
On Monday afternoon, a smaller plane skidded off the runway onto the nearby grass in similar conditions.
Major fire
TAM Linhas Aereas flight 3054 was believed to have been carrying between 144 and 174 people when it attempted to land at Congonhas airport in the heart of Sao Paulo.
The plane was travelling to the city from Porto Alegre in the south of the country.
After touching down on the airport's main runway, the passenger jet skidded before sliding across a busy road in a residential area.
It then struck a depot used by TAM for storing cargo and some fuel.
Brazilian television has been showing pictures of a major fire at the scene and the emergency services have arrived in large numbers to deal with the aftermath of the accident.
Eyewitnesses say there has also been an explosion at a nearby garage, which is complicating rescue work.
Safety concerns
The BBC's Gary Duffy in Sao Paolo says the weather has been bad for much of the day and there has been concern for some time about safety at Congonhas during heavy rain.
In February, a judge briefly banned flights in and out of the airport, which is the busiest in Brazil.
Pilots had complained that water was pooling on the surface of the landing strip, making braking difficult and occasionally causing planes to skid out of control.
Remedial work, including putting grooves into the runway surface to improve traction, was subsequently carried out and completed on 30 June.
However, a much smaller plane skidded off the runway before stopping on grass in similar weather conditions on Monday. No-one was injured in the incident.
Air safety in Brazil has been a major issue since a crash last year when a passenger plane collided with an executive jet over the Amazon, our correspondent says.
Some 154 people died in that incident, which was the worst air crash in the country's history.
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