Data from Legacy´s recorders reveals seven contact attempts by controllers.
Since most people here isn´t familiar with the secret code we call language (Portuguese), and that those automatic translators at times get to provide results that are a bit scary, to say the least, I´ve tried to summarize one of "O Globo"´s articles from today.
O Globo is the major newspaper in Rio de Janeiro state and one of the most influential in the country. It is part of a media conglomerate by the same name.
The article says the investigators´ team has crossed the data between Cindacta 1 (Brasilia) and the Legacy´s black box. According to the newspaper the flight controllers made seven attempts to contact the Legacy and those attempts were recorded by the box. Investigation has found that Cindacta 1 lost contact with the Legacy for almost one hour. There was normal communication between the controllers and the aircraft until Brasilia. Roughly ten minutes after that, the controllers noticed that Legacy´s transponder was innoperative. The equipment went back on only after the collision, around 5 p.m. The pilot then issued an alert and contacted Cindacta 4 (Manaus) asking for instructions for an emergency landing which took place at Serra do Cachimbo´s Air Force base.
It is mentioned that the authorities came to the conclusion that Legacy´s pilot would have turned off the transponder and remained at 37,000 feet in disaccordance with the flight plan. However, the Air Force will not issue any statement until the contents of Gol´s black boxes are analysed. No malfunction in the jet´s equipment was found.
The article goes on describing the Legacy´s transponder device, saying it has a backup system that should automatically become operational, had the main system failed, but that the transponder has to be turned on for it to happen. The innocurance of a back up system activation would reinforce the possibility of the equipment being turned off at the time of the collision.
One question that remains to be answered, according to the reporter is why Gol´s pilot wasn´t warned of the presence of another aircraft in the vicinity that wasn´t asnwering Cindacta´s calls. The Cindacta 1 controllers are to be heard by the police this monday.
The pilots lawyer, former Ministry of Justice José Carlos Dias (as a former lawyer myself, I´d say it´s about the best money can buy) denies the pilots were conducting in flight tests and that both pilots had previously flown on that type of aircraft in the US. He says that, according to the pilots, the transponder was on at the time of the impact and didn´t want to comment at what flight level they were, saying that it was a controversial issue. The pilots reamain in Rio de Janeiro on an unknown place under the American Consulate assistance.
Hope this has been useful to some.
Hugs.
Cesar.