Reuters AlertNet Lite - US pilots in Brazil crash say did nothing wrong

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US pilots in Brazil crash say did nothing wrong

15 Dec 2006 14:47:28 GMT
Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Two U.S. pilots said on Friday they were not at fault for a collision between their small plane and a Brazilian airliner, which subsequently crashed over the Amazon and killed all 154 people aboard.

The two pilots, Joseph Lepore and Jan Paladino, were charged by Brazilian police last week with endangering air safety and could face up to four years in prison for the Sept. 29 crash.

"We were compliant with all regulations, we were doing exactly what we were supposed to be doing," Paladino said in a television interview with NBC's "Today" show.

Lepore concurred and said: "It's been horrible to be involved in something like this."

Paladino said they had been cleared by Brazilian air traffic controllers to fly at 37,000 feet (11,000 metres) on a flight to the United States. They felt a "horrific jolt" when the two planes clipped wings, he said, but were able to stabilize the jet and land at a remote military airstrip.

Their Legacy 600 plane, which lost a winglet in the collision, was owned by ExcelAire, a charter company based in Ronkonkoma, New York,

The other plane, a Boeing 737 operated by Brazilian airline Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes <GOLL4.SA>, plunged into the dense Amazon jungle in Brazil's worst air disaster.

"Air traffic controllers have responsibility to manage that traffic," Paladino said.

Brazilian authorities have suggested that the U.S. pilots may have diverged from their assigned altitude but an initial Brazilian Air Force report said both planes had been cleared to fly at 37,000 feet (11,000 metres).

The inquiry, though still inconclusive, also suggested that a gap in the coverage of air traffic control systems -- and a possible misunderstanding among air traffic controllers -- may have contributed to the accident.

In a preliminary report released this week, Brazilian police said the U.S. pilots could have prevented the crash if they had noticed that their plane's transponder -- an anti-collision device -- was not working.

The pilots were forced to stay in Brazil for more than two months while the investigation was conducted. They were permitted to leave last week after agreeing to return at any time during the probe if authorities request it.

"The facts of the case will come out and prove it (the charges) wrong," Paladino said.

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Last updated:Fri Dec 15 14:48:57 2006