Originally Posted by
Johnbr
...
These are facts.
The 738,was at Fl370 as for his Flight plan,operating a scheduled flight when it was hit by the Legacy,who should be at FL360.Fact!
What remains to be uncovered is:Why was the Legacy at FL370?????...
...Just trying to add some sense to the discussion.
The
further fact is that the Legacy had lost contact with ATC, and had become a known hazard at an unknown altitude to ATC. ATC didn't know, and we do not yet know the reason for the lost contact, but per ICAO, ATC should have required an altitude change, and perhaps a track offset, for the Gol 737 to provide positive (or at least a statistically safe) separation.
For all the allegedly knowledgable quotes from the Embraer CVR, ATC tapes, etc. no one seems to know when or if ATC revised its clearance to the 737.
That seems to be the open issue now.