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Mystery Surrounds Brazilian Jetliner Crash
Jack Chang, Kevin G. Hall
The Star Tribune
On a warm afternoon three weeks ago, a Boeing 737 passenger jet was cruising 37,000 feet above the Amazon jungle when, seemingly out of nowhere, a U.S.-owned corporate jet flying in the opposite direction clipped the passenger jet's right wing and tail. The Boeing went into a free fall that killed all 154 people aboard. It was the deadliest plane crash in Brazilian history.
Brazilian investigators still haven't figured out how the accident Sept. 29 happened. Experts said the odds against such an incident were upward of 200 million to 1.
But U.S. experts are worried that Brazilian officials are trying to absolve themselves of blame by focusing on the corporate jet's American pilots, who managed to land their plane safely. Both are under house arrest in a Brazilian hotel and have had their passports seized.
Brazilian Defense Minister Waldir Pires has said air-traffic controllers weren't at fault and has speculated that the American pilots may have turned off the jet's transponder, a device that would've announced the plane's altitude to controllers and possibly helped prevent the accident.
There's been no evidence released officially that would support suggestions that the pilots did anything to place their plane or the Boeing 737 in jeopardy.
But the stakes are high, not just for the New York-based pilots, Joseph Lepore and Jan Paladino but also for the Brazilian air traffic-control system.
With lawyers from around the world flocking to Brazil to represent the victims' families, the fate of the corporate jet's owner, ExcelAire, also hangs in the balance.
Peter Goeltz, a former managing director of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates air disasters in the United States and often abroad, has noted what he thinks is the irregular nature so far of the Brazilian investigation. "I would say there was a considerable amount of what sounded like official speculation early on, which was unusual."
The investigation also has drawn attention to what many experts say are flaws in Brazil's protocol for investigating air crashes. Not only does the military run the air traffic-control system, it also investigates plane accidents, meaning air force officials are asked to monitor themselves. Investigations are conducted behind closed doors.