U.S. Citizens Will Not Be Present During The Proceedings

The pilots of a business jet which was involved in a mid-air collision with a Brazilian airliner in 2006 will be re-tried in absentia for their role in the accident. All 154 people on board the Boeing 737 involved in the collision were fatally injured in the accident.

The pilots ... U.S. citizens Joseph Lepore and Jan Paladina ... both from New York State ... had previously been convicted in connection with the accident. They had been allowed to leave Brazil two months after the accident occurred, and their 52 month prison sentence was commuted to community service in the U.S.

Prosecutors appealed the sentence, saying it was not sufficient, according to a report appearing in the Associated Press. The Embraer Legacy 600 the two were flying collided with the Gol Lineas Aereas Intellegentes SA Boeing 737. The Brazilian government contended that the two U.S. pilots in the business jet had their anti-collision system turned off for nearly an hour.

Prosecutors are asking that the two pilots' sentences be increased to 69 months in prison, and a revocation of the community service substitute. The Brazilian attorney representing the pilots has appealed the original sentence. The pilots maintain that the anti-collision system was never inoperative during the flight.

FMI: www.brasil.gov.br/?set_language=en