Reuters: Black box in Brazil crash reveals series of errors

[Eugene]

Black box in Brazil crash reveals series of errors

February 18, 2007

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - The cockpit voice recorder from a private
jet involved in Brazil's worst ever air crash and dialogues among
traffic controllers point to a series of errors and misunderstandings
that may have contributed to the accident, a local newspaper
reported on Sunday.

The 290-page transcript of the recordings, obtained by the Folha
de S.Paulo, is part of an ongoing investigation into the causes
of a mid-air collision between a Legacy business jet and a Boeing
737 on September 29 that killed 154 people.

-snip-

The recordings, parts of which were published by Folha, show that
the ExcelAire pilots had trouble understanding the English spoken
by Brazilian air traffic controllers. The plane was flown by Joseph
Lepore, 42, and Jan Paladino, 34, both of New York state.

According to the transcript, which Folha translated into Portuguese,
the control tower in Sao Jose dos Campos authorized the Legacy
before take-off to fly at 37,000 feet but made no mention of other
altitudes foreseen in the original flight plan. Apparently unsure
of what they heard, the pilots asked three times for clarification
without getting a response.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.boston.com/news/world/latinamerica/articles/2007/02/18/black_box_in_brazil_crash_reveals_series_of_errors/