Fri, Dec 08, 2006
ExcelAire Pilots Face Possible Prison Term
ANN REALTIME REPORTING 12.08.06 1600 EST:
Brazil's federal police today
charged two US pilots involved in a mid-air collision last
September suspected of bringing down a Gol Airlines 737 in the
Amazon jungle.
Just this week a federal judge in the country agreed to return
Joseph Lepore's and Jan Paladino's passports allowing the pair
to return home for the first time since the September 29 accident.
The two have been holed up in a Rio de Janiero hotel.
Lepore and Paladino were questioned by police for six hours
after showing at headquarters to make official
statements. Police charged them with endangering air safety,
then gave them their passports and permission to leave the
country. Both were warned they must return for their trials.
Neither officially replied to the police regarding the
charges saying they would speak in court. Both avoided the media
after leaving police headquarters.
The surprise move by Brazilian police comes just as
several international aviation groups lauded the decision to return the pair's
passports and allow them to return to the US.
Ironically, the statement urged the Brazilian government to remove
criminality in accident investigations.
The investigation of the crash continues under a pall of
uncertainty as contending political groups point fingers. The head
of Brazil's police has accused the Brazilian air force, responsible
for air traffic control, of withholding evidence while the air
force has contended the two US pilots were flying at the wrong
altitude with their transponder off.
Lepore and Paladino were delivering a new Embraer Legacy 600 jet
to the US for use by their employer ExcelAire. Early press reports
in Brazil speculated they had turned off the jet's
transponder so they might explore its performance envelope while
avoiding ATC observation.
Both have denied any wrongdoing. The pair maintain through their
lawyers they were following ATC instructions and all
applicable Brazilian and international aviation rules.
If Lepore and Paladino are found to have acted intentionally to
endanger air safety by the courts in Brazil they could
face up to 12 years in prison.
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