Originally Posted by
A310driver
There is a popular TV program in the US where the moderator refers to the fact that "this is a no-spin zone" meaning that guests are not allowed to "spin" the facts so that they appear to be something other than what they really are. Methinks that we have some of this going on in this thread including your last post where you imply that the fact that the Legacy pilots did not request a different altitude was one of the factors in a series of factors that caused the accident.
I did not say this, what I said as a first point is related to a bad communication of the SBSJ ATC toward the Legacy, a wrong phrase used by SBSJ ATC (recognized by several Brazilian authorities), wrong words, wrong languaje, clearing the Legacy at same level up to Manaus.
You apparently are neither an ATC person nor a pilot nor have you read my previous posts or those of others.
I'm not ATC, I'm not a pilot, I'm not fool, I'm an investigator that has read all the posts from the beginning and want to know exactly what happened.
The Legacy was cleared by ATC to maintain FL 370 prior to crossing and beyond BRS and this was operative until such time as changed by ATC or the provisions of lost comm rules took effect (which appears to be a time well after the collision by application the rules).
The Legacy was under no obligation to request a lower altitude(or different altitude complying with the normal hemispheric plan) passing BRS nor should ATC have expected it to request a change.
The Legacy was maintaining its last cleared altitude and was required to do so
until it was changed by ATC(which by your own quotation it never did).
I get your point perfectly.
The listing of the fact that the Legacy did not request an altitude change as factor in a series of events causal to the accident is spinning.
This is a no spin zone.
I was talking about SBSJ Controller attitude
when he first cleared FL370 to Manaus (note 1) and not to BRS.
From Preliminary Report (not my words)
http://www.ntsb.gov/pressrel/2006/061122a.htm
" After takeoff, N600XL was issued a number of interim altitudes during climb, all of which were read back. The flight was cleared to proceed direct to Araxa VOR (on airway UW2), and at 3:11 pm
was cleared to climb to FL370 (note 1). At 3:33 pm, the airplane leveled at FL370.
At 3:51 pm, an air traffic controller in the Brasilia ACC (CINDACTA 1) instructed N600XL to change frequencies to the next controller's sector. The crew of N600XL reported in on the assigned frequency that the flight was level at FL370. ATC acknowledged and instructed the crew to "ident" (flash their transponder). Radar indicates that the ident was observed. This was the last two-way communication between N600XL and ATC. At this time the airplane was approximately 40 nautical miles south of BRS. "
(note 1)
To be more clear, It was recognized by several Brazilian authorities that there was possibly an error in the language used by the controller of SBSJ, the one that would have authorized the level 370 until Manaus.
Btw, my first reply was to answer what was posted by
RatherBeFlying"There is a deeper software problem.
How is it that when the Legacy was cleared to Manaus at FL370, the flight plan was not amended with FL370 to Manaus? "
In the mind of any controller was the idea of having authorized the level 370, what happens later is a succession of errors that only will be known when the recordings are published.