What happened
A scheduled international flight traveling from Buenos Aires to Rio de Janeiro and Lisbon was performing a takeoff from runway 14 at Galeao Airport. During the takeoff roll, the pilot noted unusual control column positioning and attempted to adjust it. As the aircraft approached rotation speed, the crew experienced a lack of response when attempting to lift the nose. The pilot had reduced engine power approximately 14 seconds after reaching rotation speed, following an application of brakes.
Realizing the aircraft could not stop within the remaining runway length, the pilot steered the Airbus A300 off the runway to the right. During the high-speed excursion, the aircraft's right wing lowered, causing engines 3 and 4 to drag. The left landing gear sank into the sand, leading to further engine damage. The aircraft subsequently struck an airport wall and crossed a nearby highway before coming to rest in the sea, roughly 50 meters from the shore. The vessel drifted for approximately 100 meters before sinking to a depth of 8 meters.
Evacuation efforts were severely compromised by darkness, as the automatic emergency lighting failed. Because the aircraft was partially submerged, the main door could not be used, and passengers struggled to locate exits in the confusion. Due to a lack of emergency instruction, many occupants abandoned the aircraft without life jackets or utilizing available life rafts. The accident resulted in 15 fatalities (one crew member and 14 passengers) and 46 injuries.
Findings
The takeoff was aborted because the aircraft failed to rotate at the required speed due to the stabilizer setting shifting from a 3° nose-up position to a 1-3/4° nose-down position. Additional contributing factors included the pilot's delayed decision to abort the takeoff and failure to follow standard emergency braking procedures.