Legacy Pilots Charged in Brazil

AuntPeggy

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Brazilian federal police on Friday charged two U.S. pilots involved in a collision that killed 154 people with exposing an aircraft to danger. The charges could carry a penalty of 12 years in prison.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16111157/
 
A complete boycott is required.

The only appropriate responses are:

1) no U.S. Pilot goes to Brazil to take delivery of any aircraft - this means corporate and air carrier.

If they are convicted then:

2) all U.S. pilots immediately refuse to fly Brazilian made aircraft. This grounds a significant fraction of the U.S. regional air carrier fleet.

3) no U.S. manufacturer exports technology for use in their aviation products - this shuts down Embraer (or however you spell it).

This is the Brazilian's covering up their own incompetence.
 
yea this whole thing certainly makes me happy that im not flying internationally. if i were those pilots it would take extradition to get me to go back for trial. no way no how would i go back there voluntarily.
 
I have often heard if you are involved in a car (or av) crash in Mexico (possibly similar?), you should head for the border, hide, do whatever is required to get out of dodge asap. This seems to support it.
 
I sure would like to hear what the details in this case are. The latest thing i heard was the pilots were cleared to 370 by air traffic. HOWEVER the news is saying that they filed 360 on their flight plan and the news says the pilots were wrong to fly at 370 since their flight plan says 360. Ummm that is just not the case as all of us know.

Im angry.. Pilots getting screwed yet AGAIN!
 
I think the US Gov't needs to intervene here. This isn't right, and I would fully support sanctions for this.
 
Since this was a US-manufactured 737, has the NTSB made any investigation in that country? Most countries welcome the NTSB to dive in and solve the problem of why a plane made here... crashed there. That's in addition to a US interest in being certain there is not a problem with the aircraft, itself.

As far as the two US pilots, this is a certain time I'd much rather be facing a US Admin Judge than a "hanging court" down in Brazil. This is the same country that can't even put a handle on crime and shut down the child-sex trade.
 
I think the NTSB can only get in there if they are invited. As far as I have heard the NTSB has not been invited but Boeing has been. At this point the State Department will start to get involved, they need to get in there in a big way though. Diplomatic pressures can get the charges dropped. Especially if things like landing permits for struggling Varig all of a sudden are under review. And trade agreements not getting signed. The Brazilians are in the process of establishing a pretty big free trade zone in their country and have been courting US companies to put stuff into it. The US could make that difficult to happen.
 
You fly where you're told to by ATC. If ATC put them at 37000 ft
then they'd be obligated to use that altitude. If that was indeed
the altitude they were cleared to .. this is just a smokescreen for
the incompetence of the Brasilian ATC. I would hope the U.S.
wouldn't extradite them back there.
 
You fly where you're told to by ATC. If ATC put them at 37000 ft
then they'd be obligated to use that altitude. If that was indeed
the altitude they were cleared to .. this is just a smokescreen for
the incompetence of the Brazilian ATC. I would hope the U.S.
wouldn't extradite them back there.

Thats exactly what i was saying. From some reports i heard the Brazilian govt has even said the tapes show they were cleared to 37000.. ... sooo... im trying to understand what kind of case the Brazilian govt thinks they have. This was an accident plain and simple. Its horrible and the people who survived on the corp jet are lucky to be alive. Brazil should just let our NTSB tell them what happened.

Side note: Brazilian women are beautiful ;) And im NOT boycotting them sorry..
 
I do not think there is an extradition treaty between Brazil and the US, hence why fugitives from the Us go there.

AFAIK there is such a treaty, and the pilots have agreed to return if requested. My guess is that the charge is just a way of getting them to return if Brazil if they needed them to testify later. There's been so many things already disclosed that point the finger at ATC, not them, that I doubt that they're seriously considered at fault. If they were, I don't think Brazil wouldn't have let them leave in the first place.

Dan
 
I do not think there is an extradition treaty between Brazil and the US, hence why fugitives from the Us go there.


There actually is a treaty that was signed in Rio de Janeiro on January 13, 1961. :(
 
yea this whole thing certainly makes me happy that im not flying internationally. if i were those pilots it would take extradition to get me to go back for trial. no way no how would i go back there voluntarily.

And there is no extradition tready between the US & Brazil, at least not so far as a few years ago when I went to Brazil. I had a freind who was a US Marshal who said there were quite a few people in Brazil he'd like to see.

If I were them, I'd never go back.

Missa

Just saw Jay's post, my friend told me the above in 2003.
 
Not a lawyer and didn't stay at a Holiday Inn last night.
But after some quick google searches, it looks like there is a treaty but it is only for certain crimes. Which homicide is one of them.

Now my "theory". They are given their passports back the day or so before they are charged. By doing this they get out of the country and never come back. Brazil gets to "save face" and charge them.

Just my .02

Mark Bl
 
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Not a lawyer and didn't stay at a Holiday Inn last night.
But after some quick google searches, it looks like there is a treaty but it is only for certain crimes. Which homicide is one of them.

Now my "theory". They are given their passports back the day or so before they are charged. By doing this they get out of the country and never come back. Brazil gets to "save face" and charge them.
I'm with you.

The Brazilians probably handed the pilots a flight schedule as they left the prison door.
 
I'm with you.

The Brazilians probably handed the pilots a flight schedule as they left the prison door.

From what i read, the Brazilian courts decided that the govt had no right to hold the passports and ordered them released. We shall see.
 
for as little as you hear about US major-airline accidents, you always hear about some planes flying into the Andes or whatnot. it really is a jungle down there. plus they use rejects from the US fleet - when they are too old for us, some Latin American company will buy them.
 
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