|
Amazon crash: 100 bodies found
08/10/2006 20:03 - (SA)
Sao Paulo - Troops were still searching the Amazon jungle on Sunday for victims of Brazil's worst air disaster, having recovered more than 100 bodies from the wreckage of the Gol Airlines Boeing 737-800 that crashed more than a week ago.
The Brazilian air force said that 18 bodies were extracted on Saturday from the site where the jet crashed on September 29, killing all 154 people on board after a midair collision with an executive jet.
A total of 117 bodies had been taken from the site since the wreckage was found in dense forest a day after the crash. More than 60 have been identified, including one child.
About 100 troops remained working at the crash site, the air force said.
Authorities are focusing their investigation on the Embraer Legacy 600 executive jet, which was flown by two pilots from New York state.
Late on Saturday, a Brazilian court, responding to a request by a victim's relative, ruled that the plane must stay in the country while the investigation is under way. Transponder turned off?
Brazilian authorities suggested recently - citing preliminary investigations - that the pilots may have turned off the executive jet's transponder, which transmits the aircraft's location.
The Legacy disappeared from radar, and the apparent failure of its anti-collision system suggested, according to local authorities, that the jet's transponder was switched off or broken.
The pilots, Joseph Lepore and Jan Paladino, have repeatedly denied they turned off the device and said they did nothing wrong.
The Legacy jet was able to land safely at a jungle military base with no injuries to the seven people on board.
Local authorities have ordered that Lepore and Paladino remain in Brazil until the conclusion of the investigations.
The pilots were not arrested, but their passports have been seized.
Prosecutors said they could charge the pilots with involuntary manslaughter if they are found responsible for the crash.
- AP
|
News
