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Brazil to let US pilots go home after crash probe

05 Dec 2006 19:53:36 GMT
Source: Reuters

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Two U.S. pilots should be allowed to go home after being forced to stay in Brazil for more than two months over their role in the country's worst air disaster, a Brazilian court ruled on Tuesday.

A court statement said Joseph Lepore, 42, and Jan Paladino, 34, would get their passports back after 72 hours, during which the police would take further testimony. The two must promise to show up when needed for the investigation and legal process.

"The measure of restricting the freedom of movement for foreigners is not backed by the domestic legal system," the statement said after the court ruled in favor of a writ seeking relief from unlawful detainment.

The pilots will likely return home, their lawyers said.

The pilots, both from New York state, have denied any responsibility for the Sept. 29 crash that killed 154 people, but had to stay in Brazil without being charged. They were put up in a Rio de Janeiro hotel.

The Legacy executive jet they piloted for New York-based ExcelAire clipped wings in mid-air with a Boeing passenger jet flown by Brazil's Gol <GOL.N> airlines. The jet plunged into the Amazon jungle and everyone aboard died. The smaller jet lost a winglet but landed safely.

Police seized the pilots' passports after a local judge ruled they must stay in Brazil while an investigation was conducted.

Their forced stay caused a wave of protest from U.S. pilots' associations, who urged the Brazilian authorities to conduct the investigation under widely accepted international guidelines for civil aviation and not as a criminal probe.

"The judges noted that collecting technical evidence can take a long time, 10 months or even more. It wouldn't be appropriate to keep them here the entire time," a court spokesman said.

While officials and the Brazilian media were quick to accuse the U.S. pilots in the first few weeks after the crash, media attention has recently shifted toward air traffic controllers, who complain of an excessive workload, low pay and blind spots in radar coverage.

Investigators still have to find out why collision avoidance equipment did not work and why the two planes were flying toward each other at the same altitude of 37,000 feet (11,000 metres).

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Last updated:Tue Dec 5 19:55:18 2006