On the evening of July 17, 2007, the Airbus A320-233 serving the flight overran runway 35L at São Paulo after touching down during moderate rain and crashed into a nearby TAM Express warehouse adjacent to a Shell gas station.

The aircraft veered to the left, striking a concrete box and a small light pole before coming to rest on the grass between the runway and taxiway.

[15] The aircraft operating as Flight 3054 was a twin turbofan Airbus A320-233, serial number 789, registration PR-MBK; it was powered by two IAE V2500 engines.

[20] The plane departed from Salgado Filho International Airport in Porto Alegre at 17:18 Brazilian Standard Time (BRT) (20:18 UTC).

Reviews by government officials of the surveillance videos showed that despite the aircraft touching down without incident, it did not slow down normally, veering to the left as it departed the far end at around 90 knots (170 km/h; 100 mph).

[22] The runway is elevated above the surrounding area, and the aircraft's momentum carried it over traffic on the adjacent Avenida Washington Luís, a major thoroughfare, and crushed a four-story TAM Express facility, resulting in a large fire.

For an Airbus A320, a landing speed of 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) higher than normal can result in as much as a 25% increase in the runway length needed to stop an aircraft.

Wet weather can also significantly reduce the braking performance of aircraft, leading to an increase in the minimum runway length requirement.

Pilots had complained that water had been accumulating on the runway, reducing aircraft braking performance and occasionally causing planes to hydroplane.

At the time, a spokeswoman from Brazil's National Civil Aviation Agency claimed "The safety conditions of the runway and the airport as a whole are adequate.

"[30] TAM also objected to the decision, with a spokesman stating "If the injunction stands, it will cause total chaos," claiming over 10,000 passengers per day would be inconvenienced.

[17] On July 20, Presidency Chief of Staff Dilma Rousseff announced plans to significantly reduce the number of flights operating at Congonhas.

The plan included banning, within 60 days, all connection, stopover, charter, and international flights and the reduction in the number of private jets.

[31] State crime scene investigators terminated the search for remains on July 28, 2007;[32] as of that date, 114 bodies recovered from the site had been identified by the São Paulo Medical Examiner's Office as those of passengers.

[34][35] Based on preliminary data from the FDR, on July 25 Airbus cautioned A320 operators to ensure that both thrust levers are set to idle during flare.

[38] An investigation[39] by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security released in November 2008 concluded that the pilots mistakenly left the lever for the right engine to climb upon landing, due to a mistake in landing procedures with the right thrust reverser being disabled from a prior maintenance, when in fact it was necessary to retard both engines in order for the spoilers to work.

They also said that the National Civil Aviation Agency should have closed the airport on the night the plane landed because of heavy rains; that Congonhas airport authorities shared the blame because its runway had not been properly constructed with grooves to drain away excess rainwater, contributing to the crash; that the plane's manufacturer, Airbus, should have provided alarms warning the pilots that the braking system was failing; and that TAM failed to properly train its pilots, who did not act correctly in the emergency.

The report shows that one of the thrust levers, which control engines, was in position to accelerate when it should be in idle, but it was not proved if there was mechanical or human failure as the cause of the accident.

[19] In addition to the positions of the thrust levers, the report points to several factors that may have contributed to the accident, such as a high volume of rain on the day, with the formation of puddles on the runway, as well as the absence of grooving.

The BEA also cleared Airbus of any misdoing because they had proposed a system warning modification regarding the incorrect thrust lever positions that TAM had rejected.

[43] During the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, the Brazilian athletes wore a black armband in remembrance of the victims.

[46] Brazilian Formula One driver Felipe Massa had a black stripe on top of his helmet during the 2007 European Grand Prix, to commemorate the victims.

[59] Federal prosecutors were of the opinion that the former director of the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC), Denise Abreu (who had taken up the post in March 2006), and the flight safety officer of the airline, Marco Aurelio dos Santos de Miranda, should both face criminal charges.

[60] In 2011, the Brazilian Federal Public Ministry (Ministério Público Federal—MPF) laid criminal charges against Abreu and Miranda, as well as Alberto Fajerman, TAM's vice president of operations.

They were accused of neglecting air transport safety by allowing the aircraft to land in heavy rain on the notoriously short, recently resurfaced runway before cutting of grooves to channel away excess rainwater.