Brazil convicts US Pilots - suspends sentence - GOL Midair

[bizjets101]

Reuters

May 17 (Reuters) - A Brazilian court convicted two U.S. pilots of negligence for their role in the 2006 crash of a Brazilian airliner over the Amazon rain forest that killed 154 people, but the judge suspended their sentence.

AvCanada thread Gol's B737 down over Amazon.

[Les Habitants]

If I recall correctly, wasn't the cause due to Brazillian ATC being unable to identify a change in altitude on their radar screen?

But go ahead and blame the Americans Brazil, it's everyone else's fault. They were the only reason anyone survived that crash.

[Redneck_pilot86]

Well, based on a quick read of the other Avcanada thread here, the ATC couldn't trace the altitude because the pilots shut off the transponder before leaving FL370 for FL 390 without a clearance.

[Sidebar]

Well, based on a quick read of the other Avcanada thread here, the ATC couldn't trace the altitude because the pilots shut off the transponder before leaving FL370 for FL 390 without a clearance.

Avcanada, an authoritative source of information! According to the Brazilian accident report, both aircraft were at FL370.

http://www.ntsb.gov/Aviation/Brazil-CENIPA.htm

[algore]

The American pilot's didn’t change altitudes. They were SUPPOSED to change altitudes over a certain waypoint along their flight plan (as they had filed it), but since they lost ATC communication, they were not instructed to change altitudes as they would have been in the US. On the screen at the Brazilian ATC, when they lost the Mode C on the aircraft (cause the pilot rested his foot on the dash, turning off the transponder) the screen displays the altitude the aircraft should be at according to the filed flight plan. Therefore on the screen, they showed that they changed altitude, although they did not. This put them on a collision course with the GOL flight, but to the controller, it showed they were supposed to be 1000' apart. It’s all on the MAYDAY episode.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlg4JvW8h8k
(link is to Air Crash Investigation... British version of MAYDAY)

Then again, Discovery channel could be wrong... But that’s what happened according to them.

[Les Habitants]

I see...I still don't see how that causes criminal negligence. It could happen to anyone. Sounds like a case of Brazil blaming everyone else.