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Authorities 'ground' pilots
04/10/2006 08:11 - (SA)
Rio de Janeiro - A Brazilian court ordered police to seize the passports of two US pilots whose executive jet clipped a commercial plane in midair last week shortly before the larger aircraft crashed, killing all 155 people onboard, a spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, a Brazilian newspaper reported on Tuesday that the Brazilian-made Legacy executive jet, which was carrying seven Americans, disobeyed an order by the control tower to descend to a lower altitude just before coming into contact with Gol airlines Flight 1907.
The daily O Globo paper said the Legacy flew at 37 000 feet (11 300m) to the capital Brasilia, but then ignored an order to descend to 36 000 (11 000m) feet to continue its flight to the Amazon city of Manaus. The Gol jetliner was flying at 37 000 feet (11 300m) from Manaus to Brasilia en route to Rio de Janeiro.
The executive jet was damaged but landed safely at a nearby air force base.
Pilots questioned
A judge in Mato Grosso state, where the Gol plane crashed deep in the Amazon jungle, ordered police to seize the passports of Legacy pilot Joseph Lepore and co-pilot Jan Palladino "as a result of the doubts surrounding the case and the emergence of indications that the accident was caused by the Legacy," state justice department spokesperson Maria Barbant said.
She said the two weren't arrested but "just prevented from leaving the country, at least until we know exactly what happened".
The pilots, who have been questioned by Mato Grosso investigators, were brought to Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday for routine physical tests. They weren't injured in the incident.
The Legacy had been making its inaugural flight to the US, where it had been purchased by an American company, said its manufacturer, Embraer.
Air force commander General Luis Carlos Bueno also said the Gol flight, a brand-new Boeing 737-800, had a flight plan for 37 000 feet (11 300m) and the Legacy jet was authorised to fly at 36 000 feet (11 000m), according to an interview on Tuesday with Brazil's government news service Agencia Brasil.
US pilots should not have been at 37 000 feet
He said neither plane was authorised to deviate from the plans. He said only an investigation of the planes' black boxes could clarify the cause of the accident.
Neither the air force nor the National Civil Aviation Agency would comment.
Christine Negroni, an investigator for the aviation law firm Kreindler & Kreindler of New York, said in an e-mail that under international guidelines, westbound planes are supposed to fly at even-numbered altitudes, and eastbound planes at odd-numbered altitudes, as measured in feet.
"Since the American pilots were flying northwest, they should not have been at 37 000 (feet) since that's odd," she said.
- SAPA
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