Azul E195-E2 leaves runway late in takeoff at São Paulo Congonhas

An Azul Embraer E195-E2 used almost the full length of the main runway at São Paulo-Congonhas before lifting off on Sunday 11 October, according to the airline's own account. The aircraft, registration PS-AEK, was flying AD4797 to Belo Horizonte-Confins. It left the ground past the touchdown zone used by aircraft landing in the opposite direction, a point where departing jets are normally well airborne.

The jet then crossed the stop area at the end of the runway at low height. Reported data put it roughly 500 feet, or about 150 metres, lower at that point than on a typical departure. The pilots are said not to have reported any problem to air traffic control, and the rest of the flight was normal.

Azul has opened an internal investigation.

Congonhas sits in the middle of São Paulo, surrounded by residential and commercial districts, and handles about 22 million passengers a year, making it Brazil's second-busiest airport. Its main runway is only around 1,940 metres and cannot be extended. Both runway ends have had arrestor beds since 2022, and flights are permitted only between 6am and 11pm.

The airport has a history of close calls. At the end of April, a landing Gol jet and a departing Azul jet came within 22 metres of each other; the controller said afterwards that the Azul aircraft had needed longer than expected to get airborne. The worst accident there occurred in 2007, when a TAM Airbus A320 overran the runway on landing, crossed a main road and struck a building, killing 199 people.