Brazil air controller convicted over 2006 crash

[Blue_Tires]

Source: WaPo

SAO PAULO -- A military court convicted an air traffic controller for his role in the 2006 collision of a Brazilian airliner and a business jet that killed 154 people, Brazil's official news service said Wednesday.

A Boeing 737 operated by Gol Lineas Aereas Intelligentes SA collided with an Embraer Legacy 600 executive jet and crashed into the Amazon jungle, killing everyone aboard. The Legacy, owned by Ronkonkoma, New York-based ExcelAire Service Inc. and flown by two American pilots, landed safely.

Air force Sgt. Jomarcelo Fernandes dos Santos was sentenced Tuesday to 14 months in jail for failing to take action when he saw that the Legacy's anti-collision system had been turned off, Agencia Brasil said. Four other controllers were acquitted for lack of proof, it said.

The five were tried by a military court because air controllers are in the Brazilian air force.

Santos' lawyer, Roberto Sobral, told Globo TV's G1 website that he will appeal the conviction and that Santos will remain free pending the outcome of the appeal process.

"The conviction is unacceptable," Sobral said. "He does not speak English and was obliged to coordinate a flight involving foreign pilots."

Joel Weiss, attorney for the two American pilots, said that "if one wanted to pinpoint the causes of the accident they would be the shortcomings of Brazil's air control system."

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/27/AR2010102704403.html

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The two U.S. pilots also face charges of negligence in the disaster...

[LuckyLib]

1. A fascinating account of this accident appeared in a 2009 article written by Wm. Langiewiesche,

a respected journalist and pilot. The ATC folks were "asleep at the wheel" and folks died as a result.

http://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/2009/01/air_crash200901

[uppityperson]

2. Thanks, off to read.

[hayu_lol]

3. That is one fantastic link--vanity fair article--...

almost as detailed as an official report from the ATSB.

[Ghost Dog]

5. I particularly like this line I've just read:

"The best pilots are masters of minimalism who rely less on the equipment and more on their brains, but such pilots are rare."

- This understanding can be applied to all things.

[Blue_Tires]

6. Thanks for this...

I study a lot of air disasters as kind of a morbid hobby, and most times it seems unpredictable what legal punishment ATC may recieve after an incident...I've seen some crashes where ATC negligence played a huge role with little or no recrimination, and other crashes where the book was thrown at them for just a small responsibility...

[awoke_in_2003]

4. air traffic control...

is one of the most stressful jobs in aviation (the most being carrier pilot).