I'm Brazilian and the only thing I pilot is Flight Simulator 2004, I've found this forum days ago as I was looking for more precise "rumors" than what we found in general media. If I may add my 1 cent contribution...
Looking to this whole accident in a objective viewpoint I couldn't care less wheter the american pilots did or didn't something wrong, what I really care is that 154 Brazilian lives where taken off because ATC didn't advise the 737-800 about the legacy being acting "strange" (to say the least)
I personally believe that the american pilots did something wrong (confusion between ICAO/FAA rules, shutting down transponder, acrobatics, negligence, it doesn't matter), but ATC must have contacted the 737-800 and told about it, or am I missing something here ?
Our "banana republic" (as someone said) cannot accept 154 deaths, and we must blame ATC too, why ? Because their lives were in the hands of the skilled pilots on the 737 (that didn't do anything wrong), and the ATC. They weren't in the hands of those american pilots.
And please, I'm not trying to save those american pilots, what I'm saying is that even if they are really wrong (what I personally believe they are), isn't ATC duty to alert other aircrafts about crazy pilots ? or even try to shut them down ?
Even if they are guilt, that won't take back those 154 deaths... What I'd like to have seen on the news was the legacy shut down for no obeying orders from ATC, not the 737 from Gol airlines.