U.S. Pilot Error In Brazil Crash?

Police Say U.S. Pilots Might Face Manslaughter Charges In Deadly Accident

(AP)  The American pilots of an executive jet could be charged with manslaughter if they are considered responsible for a high-altitude crash with a Boeing 737 that killed 155 people, federal police said Wednesday.

Police earlier seized the passports of pilots Joseph Lepore and Jan Paladino, both from New York State, to prevent them from leaving the country.

The two were piloting the Brazilian-made Embraer Legacy 600 when it collided with a Boeing 737-800 over Mato Grosso state in the Amazon rain forest. The Boeing crashed, killing all 155 aboard. The Legacy landed safely at an air force base.

"We have received an order from the Federal Prosecutor's Office in Mato Grosso to begin investigating the possible commission of a crime inside the aircraft," said Geraldo Pereira, acting director of the Federal Police in Mato Grosso, speaking by phone.

"We will start investigating if the two pilots caused the accident and if they are considered guilty they could be charged with involuntary manslaughter," Pereira said.

Investigators are puzzled why the pilots weren't alerted by equipment designed to avoid collisions. The air force said both jets were equipped with a traffic collision avoidance system, which monitors other planes and sets off an alarm if they get too close.

"Preliminary investigations indicate that the pilots may have turned off the transponder" that communicates the plane's location, he said. If so, that would mean "that they knew the risks they were running and nevertheless they took certain attitudes that endangered the lives of people."

The Brazilian newspaper O Globo reported on Tuesday that the Legacy, which was carrying seven Americans, disobeyed a control tower order to descend to a lower altitude before coming into contact with Gol airlines Flight 1907.

It said the Legacy flew at 37,000 feet to the capital Brasilia, but then ignored an order to descend to 36,000 feet to continue its flight to the Amazon city of Manaus. The Gol jetliner was flying at 37,000 feet from Manaus to Brasilia en route to Rio de Janeiro.

U.S. journalist Joe Sharkey, who was on the smaller plane, wrote in The New York Times that he visited the pilots shortly before the crash. He said they told him "the plane was flying beautifully" and he noted a display of the altitude read 37,000 feet.

A judge in Mato Grosso state, where the Gol plane crashed deep in the Amazon jungle, ordered police to seize the passports of Lepore and Paladino "as a result of the doubts surrounding the case and the emergence of indications that the accident was caused by the Legacy," state Justice Department spokeswoman Maria Barbant said.

She said the two were not arrested but "just prevented from leaving the country, at least until we know exactly what happened."

I think it is too early to make any speculations. The pilots and crew of both aircraft were professionals and took the safety of their passengers and aircraft to heart. I think that being over the middle of the Amazon could certainly preclude any effective communication with air traffic controllers. Communication would be practically non-existent or intermittent at best in that region. I would also venture to say, without actually knowing for sure, that there was probably no radar coverage in that area either.

I give thanks to our Father in heaven for the lives that were spared; and I pray for those whose lives were lost.

[rarehorses]

I would like to know why the big cover-up with regard to Excel Aire. What are they hiding and why? Why has it seemingly escaped everyone's notice that Joe Sharkey, the NY Times columnist who was a passenger on the Legacy jet, has changed his story numerous times? Initially, he said that he was in the cockpit 'seconds' before the impact. The second printing of his story indicated that it was 'minutes'; and the third version states that he had been comfortably sitting in his seat, calmly working on his laptop. Which is it?

Again, I feel that Excel Aire has a MUCH larger role in this crash than they are 'fessing up to and are happily palming blame for this crash on to their pilots. For starters, how about the pressure that they put on their pilots to work outside of federal guidelines?

I pray for those that lost their lives, as well as the two American pilots who are being held.