has anyone attempted to show that these alleged failings of the Legacy crew were causal to the accident?
The news (Agestado, Folha, Globo) say that the official Air Force documents (I understand that is Military Police Inquiry and CENIPA/NTSB investigation) produced until now on the investigation leave no doubts: despite the controllers performance having been a "contributing" factor in the accident, the "determining" factor in the tragedy was really the two North American pilots Joseph Lepore and Jan Paul Paladino. The Military Police Inquiry (IPM, has no legal effects to pilots), indicted the controllers for "carelessness" and "lack of diligence" and that the pilots had "neglect conduct". They say that the responsibility for navigation is that of the pilot-in-command of the aircraft and crew had to follow the indications on the aeronautic chart (I understand as the RVSM issue), which is a required document in the command cabin. They say the clearance was wrong (didn’t mention the route) and incomplete (they should had said “as filed”). Controllers said on their testimony that they knew that there was 3 different levels, but this is the way they use to do. They don’t say “as filed”. The conclusion that is reached is that the pilots considered that the current flight plan was one, while the flight controllers considered that there was another, as is explained: (1) A flight plan, requested and cleared, from the radio clearance, to the Legacy’s crew, which provided level FL370 from São José dos Campos to Manaus; (2) a flight plan, submitted and approved to and by ACC-Brasilia, which foresaw three different flight levels, obeying the flight plan originally submitted: level FL370 from São José dos Campos to Brasilia; FL360 from Brasilia to waypoint TERES; and FL380 from waypoint TERES to Manaus. The most relevant neglect conduct of the North American pilots is in respect to radio communication. They say neither they nor any other pilot in any part of the world needs controllers to know at what frequencies they should position their communications apparatus (Is this true?). The navigation charts register the frequencies sector by sector. Lepore and Paladino knew that in Sector 9, between São José and Brasilia, the frequencies are 125.05MHz 133.10MHz and 121.50MHz. On entering Sector 7, in Brasilia to Manaus, the frequencies are 123.30MHz, 128.00MHz, 133.05MHz, 135 90MHz and 121.50MHz. The frequency 121.50MHz appears in all of the sectors because it is the universal emergency band.