Our ATC either commited mistakes or was a victim of system failures. This with no doubt.
I am against a criminal procedure against the pilots in this case as I don't see enough evidences of gross negligence in this case, at least to support a criminal conviction.
But some questions remain:
There is a talk about a transponder failure being caused by the use of the footrest.
The first question is: Is that technically proved ? If so, Embraer should immediatelly fix it.
The second question is: Was this the cause for the Transponder to be innoperative in the Legacy aircraft ? Or did the pilot confuse switches ?
Third question: Should the absence of an aural warning after the Transponder was shut off be accepted as a justification for the crew not having turned the device on again ? Shouldn't the crew monitor the a/c instruments ? Shouldn't it be trained to do so ?
Right after the collision, the PNF (I suppose) asked the PF if the transponder was off... The PF promptly confirmed it...