May I float the idea of "Cruise Climb" ?
Does anyone in modern civil aviation know what I am talking about ?
If an aircraft captain wants to add a lot of extra miles to a long ferry, the procedure works. Step climbs are a poor relation. I imagine that it would always be difficult to get clearance for the pure cruise climb and, in an area of poor radio coverage, he might say "What the Hell".
I have done this myself long ago (another country – besides, the wench is dead).
This forum has not yet established the destination of the Legacy flight. If it was direct from Sao Paulo to Long Island (the Excelaire base), the ferry would be over 4100 nm. Is that feasible for this aircraft ?
Supposing a captain takes liberties as I am suggesting, he should do the decent thing and sidestep away from any airway centreline. But perhaps the Legacy was (at a narrow angle) crossing the 737, to route East of Manaus.
Changing the subject: closing, head on, does the TCAS in each case direct a clearing turn in accordance with Rules of the Air or is there an attempt to increase any height separation ? If so who goes up and who goes down ? With the aircraft closing at more than 10 nm per minute and with huge turning circles, is the current TCAS system able effectively to resolve the hazard ?