Smoke wafts over travelers at Sao Paulo airport

By Mauricio Savarese

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - The flames from Brazil's worst plane crash were contained around dawn on Wednesday, but the smell of smoke and death wafted over travelers at Sao Paulo's airport as a reminder of disaster.

"It took four or five hours to reach the plane," medical examiner Douglas Ferrari said. "When we arrived, it was as expected -- not one trace of life and only some bodies would have the slightest chance of being identified."

Clouds of grey smoke from the crash site just across from the airport added a haze to the blustery day in Sao Paulo, South America's largest city.

Rescue workers in masks sifted through the mangled Airbus A320 and a crumbling warehouse to recover remains. The morgue had to call in mobile storage units for the large number of bodies.

"It was impossible to say what was one building or another, what was the gas station or the plane or what was a dead passenger or a bystander who was hit. Everything has become one," said Ferrari.

Grieving families of victims arrived at the airport and were escorted to back rooms away from packs of reporters.

The day after the TAM Linhas Aereas plane skidded off a runway in the rain -- Brazil's second major aviation disaster in less than a year -- local media were quick to attribute blame.

Some alleged pilot error, while others said lawmakers were at fault for allowing the airport to open without its short runway having been grooved to aid drainage and traction.