Mid-air collision over Brasil
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YouTube video of Legacy at Manaus airport
Someone managed to film the Legacy. The stabilizer has been fixed, the winglet is missing.
YouTube - legacy ,aviao assassino!!!
The audio essentially identifies the plane, and says this is an historic moment.
The new registry, N965LL, is visible on the tail.
YouTube - legacy ,aviao assassino!!!
The audio essentially identifies the plane, and says this is an historic moment.
The new registry, N965LL, is visible on the tail.
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The Legacy is in Cleveland
An article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer provides photos and, as seems inevitable, misinformation.
The military base - not the airfield - had been secret because it contained a borehole for testing a Brazilian atomic bomb, a project abandoned over 20 years ago, the secrecy being lifted many years before the Gol 1907 crash. The base has served for support in other air accidents, such as Varig RG-254 that took a wrong turn and got 1,000 miles lost in 1989. See Ivan Sant'Anna's book "Caixa-Preta" for more details.
Embraer Legacy 600 jet makes journey to Cleveland, years after colliding with jetliner over Brazil | cleveland.com
Embraer Legacy 600 jet makes journey to Cleveland, years after colliding with jetliner over Brazil Published: Friday, November 19, 2010, 4:23 PM Updated: Saturday, November 20, 2010, 4:45 AM
Alison Grant, The Plain Dealer
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View full sizeJoshua Gunter, The Plain DealerA corporate Embraer Legacy 600 comes to a stop Friday outside the hangar at Constant Aviation at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. The jet languished for years at a remote airstrip in Brazil, where it made an emergency landing after clipping a Boeing 737 in the air. The 737 crashed, killing 154 people aboard. 18Share
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The corporate jet was on its maiden flight, zooming 37,000 feet above dense Amazonian jungle, when the seven people on board felt a jolt and heard a loud bang, followed by silence.
The Embraer Legacy 600 had struck something, nobody knew what. And the collision had sheared off a 5-foot-tall winglet at the end of one of its wings.
"The leading edge of the wing was losing rivets and starting to peel back," travel writer Joe Sharkey later wrote about the near-death experience, which he called the most harrowing half hour of his life.
The pilot and co-pilot stayed calm, scanning the impenetrable rainforest for a place to land. But the Legacy was losing speed. The situation was quickly deteriorating.
Then one of the pilots spotted a runway through the dark canopy. The corporate jet came down hard on a landing strip of what turned out to be a secret military base. The passengers and crew stumbled off the aircraft . . . facing drawn guns.
That they were alive was a fact of almost insurmountable odds, Sharkey recalled in a column for The New York Times. "Maybe we are all actually dead," he remembered joking as gallows humor broke out in the barracks where military personnel had sent them to sleep.
A few hours later they learned the terrible news from the only one among them to speak Portuguese.
The commander at Cachimbo Air Base said that a Gol Airlines Boeing 737 with 154 people on board was reported missing right where the smaller plane felt the collision. No one survived on the jetliner. It was the deadliest accident in Brazilian aviation history.
The Embraer Legacy languished at the military base, ensnared in investigations and legal charges.
But at 11 a.m. Friday -- more than four years after the accident on Sept. 29, 2006 -- it landed at Cleveland Hopkins International Aiport and taxied up to the hangar of Constant Aviation.
A team of 10 engineers, mechanics and avionics specialists from Constant Aviation spent several weeks in October working on the aircraft at the Cachimbo base. The base had long since been declassified as a secret military outpost because of worldwide news of the crash.
View full sizeJoshua Gunter, The Plain DealerThe storied corporate jet will remain in Cleveland for three months for repairs.
The Legacy had spent a year and a half outside in jungle dampness. All of its Honeywell avionics displays had to be replaced, Constant Aviation President Steve Maiden said, in addition to fixing the damaged left wing and a damaged tail part.
Constant Aviation -- the single largest U.S. repair company for the Embraer Legacy -- had contacted the company that insured the aircraft after the accident.
Constant Aviation does about 70 percent of Legacy scheduled maintenance on Legacys in the United States and 99 percent of 48-month inspections for U.S.-registered Legacys.
"That's our niche," Maiden said.
Constant Aviation also has a mobile recovery team that specializes in heavy structural repair of damaged planes. The company recently sent a team to Ottawa, Canada, to remove and replace the nose section of a plane.
The Legacy involved in Brazil had initially been purchased by charter/management firm ExcelAire of Ronkonkoma, N.Y., and was on its delivery flight from an Embraer factory when the accident happened.
The Legacy's insurer declared the plane a write-off and sold it to a new owner, whom Maiden did not identify. AINonline, an aviation news site, said FAA records listed the new owner as Cloudscape of Wilmington, Del.
The storied Legacy will be at Constant Aviation's repair facility at Hopkins for about three months, undergoing a detailed, 2,500-hour inspection and getting a new wing.
Dan Hubbard, spokesman for the National Business Aviation Association, said it's the only business jet he's heard of that collided with a jetliner, much less made it through the horrifying occurrence.
"You're talking inches, and something else could have happened," Maiden said. "If there was a 2-foot difference, they wouldn't have hit each other. Of if the 737 was 18 inches higher, the 737 would have made it."
The crash site of the jetliner was found after a day-long search using multiple planes and helicopters. Rescuers had difficulty reaching the site because of the dense forest. Some rappelled out of aircraft to reach the wreckage.
The cause of the accident is still in dispute, although there is no question that the planes were flying at the same altitude. The accident was investigated by both the Brazilian Air Force and the U.S. National Transportation and Safety Board.
Brazil concluded the collision resulted from a combination of errors from air traffic controllers and the Legacy's pilots. The NTSB said the pilots of both planes acted properly and pointed to a variety of air traffic control errors.
The military base - not the airfield - had been secret because it contained a borehole for testing a Brazilian atomic bomb, a project abandoned over 20 years ago, the secrecy being lifted many years before the Gol 1907 crash. The base has served for support in other air accidents, such as Varig RG-254 that took a wrong turn and got 1,000 miles lost in 1989. See Ivan Sant'Anna's book "Caixa-Preta" for more details.
Embraer Legacy 600 jet makes journey to Cleveland, years after colliding with jetliner over Brazil | cleveland.com
Embraer Legacy 600 jet makes journey to Cleveland, years after colliding with jetliner over Brazil Published: Friday, November 19, 2010, 4:23 PM Updated: Saturday, November 20, 2010, 4:45 AM
Alison Grant, The Plain Dealer Follow
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View full sizeJoshua Gunter, The Plain DealerA corporate Embraer Legacy 600 comes to a stop Friday outside the hangar at Constant Aviation at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. The jet languished for years at a remote airstrip in Brazil, where it made an emergency landing after clipping a Boeing 737 in the air. The 737 crashed, killing 154 people aboard. 18Share 4 Comments
The corporate jet was on its maiden flight, zooming 37,000 feet above dense Amazonian jungle, when the seven people on board felt a jolt and heard a loud bang, followed by silence.
The Embraer Legacy 600 had struck something, nobody knew what. And the collision had sheared off a 5-foot-tall winglet at the end of one of its wings.
"The leading edge of the wing was losing rivets and starting to peel back," travel writer Joe Sharkey later wrote about the near-death experience, which he called the most harrowing half hour of his life.
The pilot and co-pilot stayed calm, scanning the impenetrable rainforest for a place to land. But the Legacy was losing speed. The situation was quickly deteriorating.
Then one of the pilots spotted a runway through the dark canopy. The corporate jet came down hard on a landing strip of what turned out to be a secret military base. The passengers and crew stumbled off the aircraft . . . facing drawn guns.
That they were alive was a fact of almost insurmountable odds, Sharkey recalled in a column for The New York Times. "Maybe we are all actually dead," he remembered joking as gallows humor broke out in the barracks where military personnel had sent them to sleep.
A few hours later they learned the terrible news from the only one among them to speak Portuguese.
The commander at Cachimbo Air Base said that a Gol Airlines Boeing 737 with 154 people on board was reported missing right where the smaller plane felt the collision. No one survived on the jetliner. It was the deadliest accident in Brazilian aviation history.
The Embraer Legacy languished at the military base, ensnared in investigations and legal charges.
But at 11 a.m. Friday -- more than four years after the accident on Sept. 29, 2006 -- it landed at Cleveland Hopkins International Aiport and taxied up to the hangar of Constant Aviation.
A team of 10 engineers, mechanics and avionics specialists from Constant Aviation spent several weeks in October working on the aircraft at the Cachimbo base. The base had long since been declassified as a secret military outpost because of worldwide news of the crash.
View full sizeJoshua Gunter, The Plain DealerThe storied corporate jet will remain in Cleveland for three months for repairs.The Legacy had spent a year and a half outside in jungle dampness. All of its Honeywell avionics displays had to be replaced, Constant Aviation President Steve Maiden said, in addition to fixing the damaged left wing and a damaged tail part.
Constant Aviation -- the single largest U.S. repair company for the Embraer Legacy -- had contacted the company that insured the aircraft after the accident.
Constant Aviation does about 70 percent of Legacy scheduled maintenance on Legacys in the United States and 99 percent of 48-month inspections for U.S.-registered Legacys.
"That's our niche," Maiden said.
Constant Aviation also has a mobile recovery team that specializes in heavy structural repair of damaged planes. The company recently sent a team to Ottawa, Canada, to remove and replace the nose section of a plane.
The Legacy involved in Brazil had initially been purchased by charter/management firm ExcelAire of Ronkonkoma, N.Y., and was on its delivery flight from an Embraer factory when the accident happened.
The Legacy's insurer declared the plane a write-off and sold it to a new owner, whom Maiden did not identify. AINonline, an aviation news site, said FAA records listed the new owner as Cloudscape of Wilmington, Del.
The storied Legacy will be at Constant Aviation's repair facility at Hopkins for about three months, undergoing a detailed, 2,500-hour inspection and getting a new wing.
Dan Hubbard, spokesman for the National Business Aviation Association, said it's the only business jet he's heard of that collided with a jetliner, much less made it through the horrifying occurrence.
"You're talking inches, and something else could have happened," Maiden said. "If there was a 2-foot difference, they wouldn't have hit each other. Of if the 737 was 18 inches higher, the 737 would have made it."
The crash site of the jetliner was found after a day-long search using multiple planes and helicopters. Rescuers had difficulty reaching the site because of the dense forest. Some rappelled out of aircraft to reach the wreckage.
The cause of the accident is still in dispute, although there is no question that the planes were flying at the same altitude. The accident was investigated by both the Brazilian Air Force and the U.S. National Transportation and Safety Board.
Brazil concluded the collision resulted from a combination of errors from air traffic controllers and the Legacy's pilots. The NTSB said the pilots of both planes acted properly and pointed to a variety of air traffic control errors.
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And the U.S. Embassy says...
From the Wikileaks release of 21 December is this account crash investigation from the US Embassy:
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Brazilian judge promises verdict in April
Jan Paladino was heard yesterday by videoconference from Long Island, see NY Times article below. Joe Lepore will be heard today. Although the trial of the pilots and the controllers has been separated, the controllers were heard by the same judge Tuesday in Brasilia. The judge has promised a verdict by the end of April.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/31/ny...lane.html?_r=1
A Trial in Brazil, With Testimony on Long Island
By WILLIAM GLABERSON
Published: March 30, 2011
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. — It’s a small room in the federal courthouse here. Four men sit around a table, all business, looking up at two television screens. On one of the screens, another man in a business suit speaks in Portuguese. His words are then translated into English. He is asking questions about altitude, about transponders, about air-traffic control.
Enlarge This Image
Robert Stolarik for The New York Times
Jan Paul Paladino, center, and his lawyers on Wednesday on Long Island, after he spoke in his defense against Brazilian charges.
Related
Robert Stolarik for The New York Times
Demonstrators outside the courthouse demanded that two American pilots be held accountable.
The hushed atmosphere in this little room on Long Island belies the catastrophic matters at stake, for this is a trial stemming from a 2006 air collision at 37,000 feet on a clear day in another hemisphere that left 154 people dead, their bodies scattered in the dense rain forest of Brazil.
Two planes collided that day, a jetliner and a new commuter jet that was being delivered to its buyer. The large jet crashed; the small one was brought to an emergency landing by its two pilots, both of them American, both from Long Island. The pilots, along with several air-traffic controllers, were criminally charged in Brazil with negligence for causing the crash, but the two Americans have declined to return to that country.
So the trial has come to them, and to Central Islip. On Wednesday one of them took the stand — or, at least, a virtual stand — in his own defense. The second is to testify on Thursday. They agreed to testify, saying they did nothing but fly professionally under dire circumstances; if convicted, they seem certain to fight extradition. A prison sentence could be as long as four years.
It is not unusual for witnesses to testify on video in the United States for a foreign case. But officials with the Justice Department and the State Department were hard pressed to cite another instance in which an American citizen on trial in a distant nation was given his or her day in court here, in the United States, through a little silver camera like the one that watched the pilot Jan Paul Paladino motionlessly on Wednesday.
It was an almost surreal day of questions haltingly asked and answered. On the screen, a waiter with a tray and a bow tie could be seen serving small cups of coffee to those in a makeshift courtroom in the justice ministry headquarters in Brasília, where relatives of the dead have staged protests and demanded punishment for the two pilots. Technical problems plagued a session that lasted hours. The video connection broke down repeatedly, and the listeners on Long Island, including the pilots’ Brazilian lawyer, learned that Portuguese turns into an indecipherable rumble if the hook-up is not perfect.
“I can’t hear,” said Mr. Paladino, who is from Westhampton Beach. “I’m sorry, forgive me; the audio’s very difficult,” he grimaced, as a Brazilian judge, Murilo Mendes, pressed ahead with question after question about how two planes could have ended up in the same spot in a deserted sky.
Treaty provisions permit this proceeding, and procedures are in place. The Justice Department works as a coordinator of sorts to make the legal sessions possible. There were the familiar trappings: an American flag in the Long Island frame (on the right screen in Central Islip) and the Brazilian flag behind Judge Mendes (left screen).
The proceedings began with the judge’s statement that Mr. Paladino had the right to remain silent. The camera in Brasília panned the room once, showing an orderly crowd awaiting the latest in a trial that has proceeded in fits and starts since the fall of 2007. The testimony of Mr. Paladino and the other pilot on the Embraer Legacy 600, Joseph Lepore, is to be the last at their trial. A decision from the judge is expected in April.
The nightmare collision, the unlikely survival of the passengers on the smaller plane and the devastating fate of the Gol Airlines Boeing 737 in the dense Amazon rain forest drew wide attention. A writer who contributes to The New York Times, Joe Sharkey, happened to be on board the Legacy writing an article for another publication. He detailed his harrowing experience on The Times’s front page, and was questioned by officials along with other surviving passengers in 2006. He is not involved in the criminal case.
In Brazil, the story of the death of children, a medical student, a captain of industry and others aboard the Boeing 737 has been something of a national obsession, tinged at times with rumor and anti-Americanism.
As in many trials, there were moments of high drama on Wednesday. The judge spoke firmly. A pause. The translator: “Your profession, please.”
Another pause. Mr. Paladino, a pale 38-year-old, sat up a little straighter. “Pilot,” he said.
The Brazilian prosecutors have accused the American pilots of committing an offense similar to criminally negligent homicide by flying when their radar might have been off, failing to follow their flight plan and flying at the wrong altitude. The pilots say they had no warning of any malfunction and followed the instructions of air-traffic controllers.
When those charges of carelessness came up, as they did repeatedly, Mr. Paladino spoke firmly as he described what it was like in the cockpit of the smaller plane, with seven aboard, as something rocked it in the air.
Still, it was not quite the confident voice pilots use over the public address system, as he spoke looking squarely at the big flat-screen television. “I wasn’t even sure if it even involved another aircraft,” he said as he described the growing emergency. With the equipment seeming to be working and the plane on course, he said, another plane out there over the Amazon seemed impossible.
“I could not believe,” he said, “that an aircraft would be involved given all the things I just mentioned, and we would still be alive.”
But if there were those moments that brought a stark reminder of what this proceeding was about, there were many more moments when the technology seemed to conspire against real emotion. Mr. Paladino gave an impassioned explanation to rebut the claim that the pilots might have turned off the transponder that sends a signal to keep track of planes.
Again, a pause. Then the translator: “O.K. There was a break-up in your answer.”
In the courthouse, Mr. Paladino repeated himself again as he described those events over a faraway rain forest.
Next to Mr. Paladino was his Brazilian lawyer, Theo Dias, and next to him was Joel R. Weiss, his Long Island lawyer. Mr. Paladino described the last moment before the crash. He had spoken routinely to an air-traffic controller. Then, he said, “I started to transmit again, and then the collision occurred.”
On the television in the small room, the translator was back from Brasília. “I’m sorry, repeat that, please,” he said.
Benjamin Weiser contributed reporting.
A version of this article appeared in print on March 31, 2011, on page A21 of the New York edition.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/31/ny...lane.html?_r=1
A Trial in Brazil, With Testimony on Long Island
By WILLIAM GLABERSON
Published: March 30, 2011
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. — It’s a small room in the federal courthouse here. Four men sit around a table, all business, looking up at two television screens. On one of the screens, another man in a business suit speaks in Portuguese. His words are then translated into English. He is asking questions about altitude, about transponders, about air-traffic control.
Enlarge This Image
Robert Stolarik for The New York Times
Jan Paul Paladino, center, and his lawyers on Wednesday on Long Island, after he spoke in his defense against Brazilian charges.
Related
- On the Road: Colliding With Death at 37,000 Feet, and Living (October 3, 2006)
- Midair Collision Probably Led to Brazil Crash, Officials Say (October 2, 2006)
- Brazil Lays Some Blame on U.S. Pilots in Collision (December 11, 2008)
- Brazilian Judge Detains Pilots in Midair Collision (October 4, 2006)
Robert Stolarik for The New York Times
Demonstrators outside the courthouse demanded that two American pilots be held accountable.
The hushed atmosphere in this little room on Long Island belies the catastrophic matters at stake, for this is a trial stemming from a 2006 air collision at 37,000 feet on a clear day in another hemisphere that left 154 people dead, their bodies scattered in the dense rain forest of Brazil.
Two planes collided that day, a jetliner and a new commuter jet that was being delivered to its buyer. The large jet crashed; the small one was brought to an emergency landing by its two pilots, both of them American, both from Long Island. The pilots, along with several air-traffic controllers, were criminally charged in Brazil with negligence for causing the crash, but the two Americans have declined to return to that country.
So the trial has come to them, and to Central Islip. On Wednesday one of them took the stand — or, at least, a virtual stand — in his own defense. The second is to testify on Thursday. They agreed to testify, saying they did nothing but fly professionally under dire circumstances; if convicted, they seem certain to fight extradition. A prison sentence could be as long as four years.
It is not unusual for witnesses to testify on video in the United States for a foreign case. But officials with the Justice Department and the State Department were hard pressed to cite another instance in which an American citizen on trial in a distant nation was given his or her day in court here, in the United States, through a little silver camera like the one that watched the pilot Jan Paul Paladino motionlessly on Wednesday.
It was an almost surreal day of questions haltingly asked and answered. On the screen, a waiter with a tray and a bow tie could be seen serving small cups of coffee to those in a makeshift courtroom in the justice ministry headquarters in Brasília, where relatives of the dead have staged protests and demanded punishment for the two pilots. Technical problems plagued a session that lasted hours. The video connection broke down repeatedly, and the listeners on Long Island, including the pilots’ Brazilian lawyer, learned that Portuguese turns into an indecipherable rumble if the hook-up is not perfect.
“I can’t hear,” said Mr. Paladino, who is from Westhampton Beach. “I’m sorry, forgive me; the audio’s very difficult,” he grimaced, as a Brazilian judge, Murilo Mendes, pressed ahead with question after question about how two planes could have ended up in the same spot in a deserted sky.
Treaty provisions permit this proceeding, and procedures are in place. The Justice Department works as a coordinator of sorts to make the legal sessions possible. There were the familiar trappings: an American flag in the Long Island frame (on the right screen in Central Islip) and the Brazilian flag behind Judge Mendes (left screen).
The proceedings began with the judge’s statement that Mr. Paladino had the right to remain silent. The camera in Brasília panned the room once, showing an orderly crowd awaiting the latest in a trial that has proceeded in fits and starts since the fall of 2007. The testimony of Mr. Paladino and the other pilot on the Embraer Legacy 600, Joseph Lepore, is to be the last at their trial. A decision from the judge is expected in April.
The nightmare collision, the unlikely survival of the passengers on the smaller plane and the devastating fate of the Gol Airlines Boeing 737 in the dense Amazon rain forest drew wide attention. A writer who contributes to The New York Times, Joe Sharkey, happened to be on board the Legacy writing an article for another publication. He detailed his harrowing experience on The Times’s front page, and was questioned by officials along with other surviving passengers in 2006. He is not involved in the criminal case.
In Brazil, the story of the death of children, a medical student, a captain of industry and others aboard the Boeing 737 has been something of a national obsession, tinged at times with rumor and anti-Americanism.
As in many trials, there were moments of high drama on Wednesday. The judge spoke firmly. A pause. The translator: “Your profession, please.”
Another pause. Mr. Paladino, a pale 38-year-old, sat up a little straighter. “Pilot,” he said.
The Brazilian prosecutors have accused the American pilots of committing an offense similar to criminally negligent homicide by flying when their radar might have been off, failing to follow their flight plan and flying at the wrong altitude. The pilots say they had no warning of any malfunction and followed the instructions of air-traffic controllers.
When those charges of carelessness came up, as they did repeatedly, Mr. Paladino spoke firmly as he described what it was like in the cockpit of the smaller plane, with seven aboard, as something rocked it in the air.
Still, it was not quite the confident voice pilots use over the public address system, as he spoke looking squarely at the big flat-screen television. “I wasn’t even sure if it even involved another aircraft,” he said as he described the growing emergency. With the equipment seeming to be working and the plane on course, he said, another plane out there over the Amazon seemed impossible.
“I could not believe,” he said, “that an aircraft would be involved given all the things I just mentioned, and we would still be alive.”
But if there were those moments that brought a stark reminder of what this proceeding was about, there were many more moments when the technology seemed to conspire against real emotion. Mr. Paladino gave an impassioned explanation to rebut the claim that the pilots might have turned off the transponder that sends a signal to keep track of planes.
Again, a pause. Then the translator: “O.K. There was a break-up in your answer.”
In the courthouse, Mr. Paladino repeated himself again as he described those events over a faraway rain forest.
Next to Mr. Paladino was his Brazilian lawyer, Theo Dias, and next to him was Joel R. Weiss, his Long Island lawyer. Mr. Paladino described the last moment before the crash. He had spoken routinely to an air-traffic controller. Then, he said, “I started to transmit again, and then the collision occurred.”
On the television in the small room, the translator was back from Brasília. “I’m sorry, repeat that, please,” he said.
Benjamin Weiser contributed reporting.
A version of this article appeared in print on March 31, 2011, on page A21 of the New York edition.
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Legacy pilots sentenced to 4 years by Brazil judge
From the Folha de S. Paulo, less than an hour ago:
http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/cotidia...e-prisao.shtml
16/05/2011 - 20h52 Legacy pilots are condemned to four years of prison
ANDRÉ MONTEIRO
From SÃO PAULO
American pilots Joseph Lepore and Jan Paul Paladino, who were on the Legacy jet that collided with a Gol plane, were condemned this Monday to for years and four months of prison, for putting aviation safety at risk.
The decision was issued by Federal judge Murilo Mendes, of the Federal court of Sinop (MT). The accident took place in 2006 and caused the deaths of the 154 occupants of the Gol plane. According to the decision, they should serve the sentence is the semi-open regime (in which the prisoner only sleeps in the jail).
Currently, Paladino works for American Airlines, and Lepore continues at the charter firm ExcelAire, owner of the Legacy. The two live in the United States.
The Folha did not manage to contact the lawyers who represent the pilots in Brazil.
[photo of teleconference interrogation]
At the end of last year, the trial on the accident was divided in two: one on the pilots and the other on the air traffic controllers - accused of errors which contributed to the collision of the aircraft.
Sentence (86 pages, in Portuguese) available on G1/Globo site in two parts:
http://estaticog1.globo.com/2011/05/...otosparte2.pdf and http://estaticog1.globo.com/2011/05/...otosparte1.pdf
http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/cotidia...e-prisao.shtml
16/05/2011 - 20h52 Legacy pilots are condemned to four years of prison
ANDRÉ MONTEIRO
From SÃO PAULO
American pilots Joseph Lepore and Jan Paul Paladino, who were on the Legacy jet that collided with a Gol plane, were condemned this Monday to for years and four months of prison, for putting aviation safety at risk.
The decision was issued by Federal judge Murilo Mendes, of the Federal court of Sinop (MT). The accident took place in 2006 and caused the deaths of the 154 occupants of the Gol plane. According to the decision, they should serve the sentence is the semi-open regime (in which the prisoner only sleeps in the jail).
Currently, Paladino works for American Airlines, and Lepore continues at the charter firm ExcelAire, owner of the Legacy. The two live in the United States.
The Folha did not manage to contact the lawyers who represent the pilots in Brazil.
[photo of teleconference interrogation]
At the end of last year, the trial on the accident was divided in two: one on the pilots and the other on the air traffic controllers - accused of errors which contributed to the collision of the aircraft.
Sentence (86 pages, in Portuguese) available on G1/Globo site in two parts:
http://estaticog1.globo.com/2011/05/...otosparte2.pdf and http://estaticog1.globo.com/2011/05/...otosparte1.pdf
What a crock of sh!t!
What else to expect from a third world country.
It seems to me there is a lot of a$$ covering going on in this story.
With all the corruption in the legal system in Brazil (and other institutions) I wouldn't believe a word from anyone associated on the Brazilian side.
Anyway I'm sure we have not heard the last of this story and it will be interesting to see what the American side as to say about the verdict and what they intend to do with both pilots involved in this accident.
What else to expect from a third world country.
It seems to me there is a lot of a$$ covering going on in this story.
With all the corruption in the legal system in Brazil (and other institutions) I wouldn't believe a word from anyone associated on the Brazilian side.
Anyway I'm sure we have not heard the last of this story and it will be interesting to see what the American side as to say about the verdict and what they intend to do with both pilots involved in this accident.
Thanks, Richard, hadn't seen that.
Thanks also JetJockeyA4, for your unbiased view. Yes, there will be more on this to agitate the legal gristmill but, for practical purposes, Mr Paladino and Mr Lepore will continue flying for airlines who presumably trust their professional qualifications. Good for them.
Thanks also JetJockeyA4, for your unbiased view. Yes, there will be more on this to agitate the legal gristmill but, for practical purposes, Mr Paladino and Mr Lepore will continue flying for airlines who presumably trust their professional qualifications. Good for them.
Brazil is not the only country capable of producing perverse verdicts in a court of law. In fact in the good ol' USA and Canada too, we frequently see longstanding murder convictions overturned.
Here in Ontario, a long sequence of murder, manslaughter and criminal negligence convictions because of a rogue pathologist have been getting overturned one by one.
The pilots may overturn the verdict on appeal, but in the meantime, they would do well to avoid any country that has an extradition agreement with Brazil -- mind you, Brazil is not in the habit of making extradition agreements with other jurisdictions.
Here in Ontario, a long sequence of murder, manslaughter and criminal negligence convictions because of a rogue pathologist have been getting overturned one by one.
The pilots may overturn the verdict on appeal, but in the meantime, they would do well to avoid any country that has an extradition agreement with Brazil -- mind you, Brazil is not in the habit of making extradition agreements with other jurisdictions.
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The sentence is not enforceable until there is no further appeal possible - a situation likely to be years down the line.
I'm reading the sentence, the judge appears not to have been taken in by the "assistant to the prosecution" who as he says, frequently complained about delay in the press, but never once in court.
Eighty-six pages take time to read, though. As of now, no articles based on it have appeared.
I'm reading the sentence, the judge appears not to have been taken in by the "assistant to the prosecution" who as he says, frequently complained about delay in the press, but never once in court.
Eighty-six pages take time to read, though. As of now, no articles based on it have appeared.
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Verdict quotes on Joe Sharkey's blog
Some quotes from the 86-page verdict on Joe Sharkey's blog.
If link doesn't work, it's JOESHARKEY.COM www(dot)joesharkey(dot)com
If link doesn't work, it's JOESHARKEY.COM www(dot)joesharkey(dot)com
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Jet Jockey A4, don't be so angry. The sentence (4 years and 4 months) was "modified" in the US and "transformed" in to community service for Brazilian Institutions in the US.
Not so bad, uh?
Now, both pilots know how the transponder/TCAS went from ON to STAND BY.
Both pilots know they should have followed the flight plan, changing their flight level even having "lost" contact with ATC (here in Brazil we only fly on the wrong level when ATC "begs" you to do so).
Both pilots know they could have avoided sendind down that 737 if they had done their homework.
They know, and I feel sorry for them.
Not so bad, uh?
Now, both pilots know how the transponder/TCAS went from ON to STAND BY.
Both pilots know they should have followed the flight plan, changing their flight level even having "lost" contact with ATC (here in Brazil we only fly on the wrong level when ATC "begs" you to do so).
Both pilots know they could have avoided sendind down that 737 if they had done their homework.
They know, and I feel sorry for them.
Rob21…
“Jet Jockey A4, don't be so angry. The sentence (4 years and 4 months) was "modified" in the US and "transformed" in to community service for Brazilian Institutions in the US.
Not so bad, uh?
Now, both pilots know how the transponder/TCAS went from ON to STAND BY.
Both pilots know they should have followed the flight plan, changing their flight level even having "lost" contact with ATC (here in Brazil we only fly on the wrong level when ATC "begs" you to do so).
Both pilots know they could have avoided sendind down that 737 if they had done their homework.
They know, and I feel sorry for them.”
I sense the sarcasm loud and clear...
I will start by saying I'm sorry! I jumped the gun and I should not have insulted Brazil, its judicial system and especially the military controlled ATC system, right.
I’ll admit I don’t understand Portuguese, let alone read it so I and many others will have to rely on an English version of the verdict to make some sort of judgement in this affair. We also have to keep in mind that any translation from one language to another might be flawed with missing words, badly translated words that might make you miss the exact context of a word or phrase.
From you sarcastic reply I have to deduce that you believe the Yanks are guilty of something and that they should be going to jail preferably in Brazil for the murderous act they committed.
You must also believe that the big bad Americans flexed their muscles or paid off someone including the judge with some American green back to have the verdict watered down, modified and reduced to community work done in the USA for the two pilots.
However if I believe the translated verdict, the only thing the judge said the American pilots were guilty of was that their TCAS was turned “OFF”, whether it was intentional, unintentional or that it had failed we do not know. Assuming the pilots were low time on the aircraft and that this was their first ferry of such an aircraft it is very possible that at some point in the flight that they could have selected the TCAS to “OFF” without even knowing it.
If the transponder was “OFF” then why didn't Brazilian ATC tell them?
In the end unless you believe and you can prove to me and to many others and especially the judicial system in Brazil that the American pilots did turn “OFF” their TCAS on purpose with the sole intent of a preplanned collision with the 737 to cause destruction and death of all onboard you cannot justify a “guilty” verdict, especially one that carries a 4 years and 4 month sentence for what is an “accident”.
I will agree with you on one thing and no I will not be sarcastic like you in saying it...
“I feel sorry for them”... I do because they will have to live the rest of their life knowing full well they were part of a major aviation accident in which many lives were lost.
Finally I will terminate this chat with the definition of "accident" according to Webster...
a : an unforeseen and unplanned event or circumstance.
b : lack of intention or necessity : chance <met by accident rather than by design>.
I certainly don't think their actions were planned so to me it is an accident plain and simple.
Just my $0.02.
“Jet Jockey A4, don't be so angry. The sentence (4 years and 4 months) was "modified" in the US and "transformed" in to community service for Brazilian Institutions in the US.
Not so bad, uh?
Now, both pilots know how the transponder/TCAS went from ON to STAND BY.
Both pilots know they should have followed the flight plan, changing their flight level even having "lost" contact with ATC (here in Brazil we only fly on the wrong level when ATC "begs" you to do so).
Both pilots know they could have avoided sendind down that 737 if they had done their homework.
They know, and I feel sorry for them.”
I sense the sarcasm loud and clear...
I will start by saying I'm sorry! I jumped the gun and I should not have insulted Brazil, its judicial system and especially the military controlled ATC system, right.
I’ll admit I don’t understand Portuguese, let alone read it so I and many others will have to rely on an English version of the verdict to make some sort of judgement in this affair. We also have to keep in mind that any translation from one language to another might be flawed with missing words, badly translated words that might make you miss the exact context of a word or phrase.
From you sarcastic reply I have to deduce that you believe the Yanks are guilty of something and that they should be going to jail preferably in Brazil for the murderous act they committed.
You must also believe that the big bad Americans flexed their muscles or paid off someone including the judge with some American green back to have the verdict watered down, modified and reduced to community work done in the USA for the two pilots.
However if I believe the translated verdict, the only thing the judge said the American pilots were guilty of was that their TCAS was turned “OFF”, whether it was intentional, unintentional or that it had failed we do not know. Assuming the pilots were low time on the aircraft and that this was their first ferry of such an aircraft it is very possible that at some point in the flight that they could have selected the TCAS to “OFF” without even knowing it.
If the transponder was “OFF” then why didn't Brazilian ATC tell them?
In the end unless you believe and you can prove to me and to many others and especially the judicial system in Brazil that the American pilots did turn “OFF” their TCAS on purpose with the sole intent of a preplanned collision with the 737 to cause destruction and death of all onboard you cannot justify a “guilty” verdict, especially one that carries a 4 years and 4 month sentence for what is an “accident”.
I will agree with you on one thing and no I will not be sarcastic like you in saying it...
“I feel sorry for them”... I do because they will have to live the rest of their life knowing full well they were part of a major aviation accident in which many lives were lost.
Finally I will terminate this chat with the definition of "accident" according to Webster...
a : an unforeseen and unplanned event or circumstance.
b : lack of intention or necessity : chance <met by accident rather than by design>.
I certainly don't think their actions were planned so to me it is an accident plain and simple.
Just my $0.02.
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Jet Jockey A4,
Please, don't get me wrong. I know the pilots had no intention to cause the accident.
Of course ATC had an enormous "contribution" to the accident, and one controller was convicted.
IMHO the pilots could (or should) be able to operate the avionics properly, could have studied the route carefully and even question the controllers about the level change.
At the moment of the accident, the only controller "proficient" in English was away from his station. Maybe that's why the junior controller did not question the Legacy about their transponder. He had the primary "target" on his scope (no altitude...) and thought that the Legacy pilots knew about the altitude change.
Of course the pilots did not turn off the transponder on purpouse.
But it was off (or STBY) at the moment of the accident.
No one had directly caused the accident, but the pilots and the controllers played a big part in it.
Regards
Please, don't get me wrong. I know the pilots had no intention to cause the accident.
Of course ATC had an enormous "contribution" to the accident, and one controller was convicted.
IMHO the pilots could (or should) be able to operate the avionics properly, could have studied the route carefully and even question the controllers about the level change.
At the moment of the accident, the only controller "proficient" in English was away from his station. Maybe that's why the junior controller did not question the Legacy about their transponder. He had the primary "target" on his scope (no altitude...) and thought that the Legacy pilots knew about the altitude change.
Of course the pilots did not turn off the transponder on purpouse.
But it was off (or STBY) at the moment of the accident.
No one had directly caused the accident, but the pilots and the controllers played a big part in it.
Regards
The status of the transponder is irrelevant, it might have prevented the accident, but it didn't cause the accident. Part of any criminal proceeding is intent; no one can possibly believe the pilots intended to cause this mid-air. If a pilot willfully violates the law, does something dangerous (low flyby, for example) fine, prosecute. In this cause, no.
GF
GF
Rob21...
"Jet Jockey A4,
Please, don't get me wrong. I know the pilots had no intention to cause the accident.
Of course ATC had an enormous "contribution" to the accident, and one controller was convicted.
IMHO the pilots could (or should) be able to operate the avionics properly, could have studied the route carefully and even question the controllers about the level change.
At the moment of the accident, the only controller "proficient" in English was away from his station. Maybe that's why the junior controller did not question the Legacy about their transponder. He had the primary "target" on his scope (no altitude...) and thought that the Legacy pilots knew about the altitude change.
Of course the pilots did not turn off the transponder on purpouse.
But it was off (or STBY) at the moment of the accident.
No one had directly caused the accident, but the pilots and the controllers played a big part in it.
Regards"
As in most accidents it's the broken links usually 3 or more that will get you in trouble.
Obviously there are many such broken links in this accident.
Starting with the controllers and Brazil's ATC system letting a new or junior controller in charge.
Language seems to be another issue here but both the controllers and pilots should be more vigilant if they feel and instruction, clearance or a readback is somewhat confusing to either party.
Yes the pilots should know how to operate their avionics but I'm pretty sure the transponder was turned "OFF" or to "STBY" by mistake without either pilots noticing it, why or how I don't know.
How do we know that a passenger visiting the cockpit while at altitude did not turn off the transponder by mistake? After all it was a ferry flight with a reporter onboard and perhaps the crew was showing off the cockpit and avionics.
What if the transponder has simply failed?
In all the above hypothetical situations, ATC should have picked it up and advised the pilots right away that they were not getting a transponder return regardless who was behind the screen.
As for studying the route before the flight well you don't know for a fact that they didn't. Heck we sometimes get wrong way altitudes to help out ATC or fly a certain segment of an airway in the wrong direction again for ATC purposes. How were these pilots supposed to know this wasn't the case?
IMHO, most of the blame lies with the ATC in this accident. The one link in this accident that could have prevented the collision, the transponder/TCAS was unfortunately turned "OFF" or on "STBY" at the wrong time.
Finally if Brazilian law cannot differentiate between a planned action causing harm or death and one that was unplanned or done by a genuine mistake with no intent, then I have to say that Brazil as some pretty stupid laws on their books.
There is no way in Hell that logically these two pilots should be guilty and have to spend time in jail for what most think is a truly unfortunate "accident".
"Jet Jockey A4,
Please, don't get me wrong. I know the pilots had no intention to cause the accident.
Of course ATC had an enormous "contribution" to the accident, and one controller was convicted.
IMHO the pilots could (or should) be able to operate the avionics properly, could have studied the route carefully and even question the controllers about the level change.
At the moment of the accident, the only controller "proficient" in English was away from his station. Maybe that's why the junior controller did not question the Legacy about their transponder. He had the primary "target" on his scope (no altitude...) and thought that the Legacy pilots knew about the altitude change.
Of course the pilots did not turn off the transponder on purpouse.
But it was off (or STBY) at the moment of the accident.
No one had directly caused the accident, but the pilots and the controllers played a big part in it.
Regards"
As in most accidents it's the broken links usually 3 or more that will get you in trouble.
Obviously there are many such broken links in this accident.
Starting with the controllers and Brazil's ATC system letting a new or junior controller in charge.
Language seems to be another issue here but both the controllers and pilots should be more vigilant if they feel and instruction, clearance or a readback is somewhat confusing to either party.
Yes the pilots should know how to operate their avionics but I'm pretty sure the transponder was turned "OFF" or to "STBY" by mistake without either pilots noticing it, why or how I don't know.
How do we know that a passenger visiting the cockpit while at altitude did not turn off the transponder by mistake? After all it was a ferry flight with a reporter onboard and perhaps the crew was showing off the cockpit and avionics.
What if the transponder has simply failed?
In all the above hypothetical situations, ATC should have picked it up and advised the pilots right away that they were not getting a transponder return regardless who was behind the screen.
As for studying the route before the flight well you don't know for a fact that they didn't. Heck we sometimes get wrong way altitudes to help out ATC or fly a certain segment of an airway in the wrong direction again for ATC purposes. How were these pilots supposed to know this wasn't the case?
IMHO, most of the blame lies with the ATC in this accident. The one link in this accident that could have prevented the collision, the transponder/TCAS was unfortunately turned "OFF" or on "STBY" at the wrong time.
Finally if Brazilian law cannot differentiate between a planned action causing harm or death and one that was unplanned or done by a genuine mistake with no intent, then I have to say that Brazil as some pretty stupid laws on their books.
There is no way in Hell that logically these two pilots should be guilty and have to spend time in jail for what most think is a truly unfortunate "accident".
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Outcome vs intention
Without commenting on this particular case, some honourable members of this thread seem to be under the false impression that criminal charges brought against an individual can only stem from “wilful”, “planned” or “intentional” actions.
This is not the case and is not a specific “Latin American” curiosity. In most countries on this planet –including the USA-, if your actions or the absence thereof, can be directly linked to the death of an individual, you will be held accountable, generally in front a criminal jurisdiction. If it is demonstrated that there was no intention to cause death, the charges will be qualified accordingly: “involuntary manslaughter”, “accidental homicide”, “homicide by imprudence”, “criminal negligence” etc…
The terms are plenty to describe this situation and will vary from country to country. The principle remains however intangible.
Best regards,
A.
This is not the case and is not a specific “Latin American” curiosity. In most countries on this planet –including the USA-, if your actions or the absence thereof, can be directly linked to the death of an individual, you will be held accountable, generally in front a criminal jurisdiction. If it is demonstrated that there was no intention to cause death, the charges will be qualified accordingly: “involuntary manslaughter”, “accidental homicide”, “homicide by imprudence”, “criminal negligence” etc…
The terms are plenty to describe this situation and will vary from country to country. The principle remains however intangible.
Best regards,
A.
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From the judge's sentence on the controllers ...
“What can be said is that it is only by luck that Jomarcelo did not commit other errors as serious as those imputed to him by the Federal Prosecutors' Office. It was only luck, because competence, he didn't have. Perhaps he even imagined that he had it, but he did not. ”
“[Jomarcelo] was there, alone, without an assistant, without a supervisor, he and his lack of knowledge, he and his inaptitude to exercise the function, he and his license in his pocket, conceeded irresponsibly, only because the system needed people to work.”
“Jomarcelo is now removed from the work of control. And not because of the criminal case (...) What was done was to fix a mistake after the accident. After the authorities of the aviation system put to work in air traffic control a person who didn't have the minimum qualifications to even come near a console."
“Jomarcelo complied with the duty to be informed. Who did not comply with the duty to inform was the school that trained air traffic controllers. And even if it had complied with the duty to teach, it did not comply wih the basis duty to fail a student unsuited to the job”
“One cannot, therefore, demand, of Jomarcelo, more than he did. By his notorious deficiencies, one can only give thanks that he did not err with more frequency. If, that is, he didn't in fact err.”
“They made Jomarcelo believe that he was a controller and he, certainly believing that he really was, sat down at the console and began to "work".
“[Jomarcelo] was there, alone, without an assistant, without a supervisor, he and his lack of knowledge, he and his inaptitude to exercise the function, he and his license in his pocket, conceeded irresponsibly, only because the system needed people to work.”
“Jomarcelo is now removed from the work of control. And not because of the criminal case (...) What was done was to fix a mistake after the accident. After the authorities of the aviation system put to work in air traffic control a person who didn't have the minimum qualifications to even come near a console."
“Jomarcelo complied with the duty to be informed. Who did not comply with the duty to inform was the school that trained air traffic controllers. And even if it had complied with the duty to teach, it did not comply wih the basis duty to fail a student unsuited to the job”
“One cannot, therefore, demand, of Jomarcelo, more than he did. By his notorious deficiencies, one can only give thanks that he did not err with more frequency. If, that is, he didn't in fact err.”
“They made Jomarcelo believe that he was a controller and he, certainly believing that he really was, sat down at the console and began to "work".
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The situation that Brazil and its aviation & law fraternity cannot seem to come to grips with... is that ATC, was originally, and still is, designed to prevent aircraft from colliding.
These two aircraft collided because of failings in the setup, structure and operation of Brazilian ATC. It really is that simple.
The fact that a simple error was made by the pilots, that compounded the ATC failings, is not something they need to, or should be, punished for.
I believe that every part of the Brazilian legal response is an attempt to shift the entire blame for the collision, on to pilots who do not deserve that total blame.
The blame was laid on the Legacy pilots by the Brazilians, within hours of the collision being known. They have tried to reinforce that belief with a judgement handed down in a Brazilian court.
When you have an ATC system totally run by the military, controlling civilian operations... and there are also holes in the coverage, training, and responsibility, of that ATC... there is always going to be a disaster in the offing.
These two aircraft collided because of failings in the setup, structure and operation of Brazilian ATC. It really is that simple.
The fact that a simple error was made by the pilots, that compounded the ATC failings, is not something they need to, or should be, punished for.
I believe that every part of the Brazilian legal response is an attempt to shift the entire blame for the collision, on to pilots who do not deserve that total blame.
The blame was laid on the Legacy pilots by the Brazilians, within hours of the collision being known. They have tried to reinforce that belief with a judgement handed down in a Brazilian court.
When you have an ATC system totally run by the military, controlling civilian operations... and there are also holes in the coverage, training, and responsibility, of that ATC... there is always going to be a disaster in the offing.