Says US Pilots Did Follow Flight Plan
The two US pilots still
in Brazil were following their flight plan. So says Brazil's
Defense Minister Waldir Pires.
The two remain in Brazil as the investigation of a suspected
mid-air collision continues. They gave up their passports on a
judge's order and have been cooperating with investigators
The two were flying the Embraer Legacy 600 authorities suspect
collided with a Gol Airlines 737 which crashed in the Amazon jungle
on September 29. All 154 aboard perished in the accident.
Pires has been particularly critical of the pair even as the
investigation proceeds. Pires has suggested the two were flying at
the wrong altitude. He's even intimated they turned off the
altitude reporting equipment aboard the business jet. So far,
investigators have unearthed no conclusive evidence proving either
of those allegations, and the two pilots have categorically, and
consistently denied them.
In fact, they maintain they were following their flight plan, a
claim Pires previously ridiculed as irresponsible. Now, Pires says
they WERE following their flight plan.
He says radar records show the Legacy followed altitudes listed
on the flight plan for at least part of its route. The executive
jet was to fly at 37,000 ft until reaching the central capital of
Brazilia when it was to turn northwest. If the crew were following
their flight plan, the Legacy should have descended to 36,000.
It was on that
northwest leg the mid-air occurred, and up to now, Brazilian
authorities have said they weren't tracking the Legacy on
Pires told the Associated Press "Information from the radar
shows that after flying at an altitude of 37,000 feet, the plane
(The Legacy) dropped 36,000 feet as it approached Brasilia. The
flight plan was therefore being followed that time."
What happened then remains the unanswered question in the
Interestingly, this is the first time ANY Brazilian official has
publicly discussed radar records showing the Legacy. Up to now,
authorities had maintained they weren't able to track it. In fact,
that claim is what prompted the initial allegations the pilots had
turned off their transponder.
ExcelAire, the company the two pilots work for, declined to
comment on any new information in the investigation.
In a statement the company said it, "...wishes to maintain its
position of deference to the investigative process, a process to
which it and its pilots continue to provide their full cooperation.
The company remains convinced that the ongoing investigations will
confirm that its pilots acted properly."
For now, the waters are muddier than ever in Brazil. And while
not under arrest, Joseph Lepore and Jan Paladino remain in Rio de
Janeiro -- without permission to come home.