Highs and lows

Sunday was a good day for Brazil -- we played against our arch-enemy, Argentina, at the final of the America's Cup. We went on to beat those cocky bastards by 3-nothing, and all was good.

Yesterday night, however, tragedy hit Brazil. Last year we had our largest plane crash when about 150 people were killed after a commercial airline got struck by a small private jet and the planed crashed in the middle of the Amazon (the private jet did an emergency landing and no one got hurt). It was a big deal in Brazil, as the pilots of the private jet were American, and they were being held in the country for investigation since it seems like they had turned off their transponders in order to "test out" the new plane and decided not to follow orders, flying at about 1000 feet above what they were told to. Since then, there has been a huge crisis for the flight controllers in Brazil, going on strike, many delays, etc.

Last night, we beat that record with yet another crash, killing at least 200 people. The plane apparently lost control while landing at a small and slippery runway, crossed over the street and crashed into a building, killing all on board and other people at the building and nearby. This Congonhas Airport, where this happened, is the busiest airport in Brazil, since it's right in the middle of São Paulo (Brazil's business district and also largest city with a population of a little over 11 million), it's a domestic airport, but still certainly small for the size of planes that are still landing there. Here is a picture of the airport -- when I say it's in the middle of the city, I mean it's in the middle of the city:

One of my coworkers knew two people in that plane. Today we're in mourning, my building at work has the Brazilian flag at half-mast.

(And no, I'm still not afraid of flying, doubt I'll ever be.)