Petition for the pilots of the Brazil midair collision
10-07-2006, 09:12 PM
#1
Chief Jeppesen Updater
Thread Starter
Joined APC: Oct 2005
Position: Executive Transport Driver
Posts: 3,080
Petition for the pilots of the Brazil midair collision
I like many others have expressed am concerned over the developments surrounding the mid-air in Brazil, particularly the news that the government has confiscated the passports of the US flight crew. I'm even more concerned that with recent news regarding congressional resignations and scandals, that this topic might fall out of public (and congressional) thinking. It was suggested (on another forum) that a petition might help support these guys, so I put this together.
If you are willing, please add your information in this thread or by sending PM or email. Once a suitable number of "signatures" has been collected, I will forward the information to each representative/senator. Please include all of the information requested: Full Name, City/State (street address optional), Email address, Pilot credentials. If you have any better wording or would like to add comments, please feel free to do so as well.
________________________________________________
To the Honorable _________,
United States Senate / United States House of Representatives
We the undersigned aviation professionals would like to express our concerns over the increasingly troublesome situation developing in Brazil regarding the involvement of two United States pilots in a tragic mid-air collision between a US registered aircraft and a Brazilian airliner, Gol airlines Flight 1907, on September 29, 2006.
The pilots, Captain Joseph Lepore, 42, of Bay Shore, NY and Captain Jan Paladino, 34, of Westhampton Beach, NY have had their passports confiscated by Brazilian authorities, and have essentially been detained pending the results of the investigation.
We the undersigned are deeply concerned over the high potential for these pilots to receive unfair treatment and prejudice during the course of the investigation, especially given the large loss of life as a result of this accident. Media reports would seem to indicate that the Brazilian authorities are not willing to conduct a thorough investigation of the details (which could months or even years). Instead recent events indicate only interest in releasing unwarranted speculation to allow an unjust public trial of these pilots.
We are additionally concerned with the potential prosecution of these citizens for manslaughter, and the repercussions that this could have on US pilots flying worldwide, especially considering that accidents often as a result of many different factors, all leading up to the final disaster.
While we believe that active, honest and willful participation in an accident investigation is required by pilots of any nation, we feel that the ongoing detention of Captain Lepore and Captain Paladin is unwarranted, especially given the fact that a formal investigation can take months or even years to determine the probable cause(s).
We respectfully request that you convene a formal inquiry on the behalf of Captains Lepore and Paladino to ensure a fair and open investigation. We also request that your office use all available and necessary means to expedite their return to the United States and their families, so that they too may begin the process of coping with these traumatic events and return to some normalcy.
Thank you for your prompt action regarding this matter. We look forward to receiving a reply.
Sincerely,
We the undersigned.
________________________________________________
Joshua N. Shields
Street Address
City, State and Zip
FAA Airline Transport Pilot
[email protected]
Add your information below in the same format as shown above by replying to this thread. If you don't want to post your info publicly, please PM me or email it to the address shown. At the very least please include your full name, city state and zipcode, and your certificate types.
~Josh
If you are willing, please add your information in this thread or by sending PM or email. Once a suitable number of "signatures" has been collected, I will forward the information to each representative/senator. Please include all of the information requested: Full Name, City/State (street address optional), Email address, Pilot credentials. If you have any better wording or would like to add comments, please feel free to do so as well.
________________________________________________
To the Honorable _________,
United States Senate / United States House of Representatives
We the undersigned aviation professionals would like to express our concerns over the increasingly troublesome situation developing in Brazil regarding the involvement of two United States pilots in a tragic mid-air collision between a US registered aircraft and a Brazilian airliner, Gol airlines Flight 1907, on September 29, 2006.
The pilots, Captain Joseph Lepore, 42, of Bay Shore, NY and Captain Jan Paladino, 34, of Westhampton Beach, NY have had their passports confiscated by Brazilian authorities, and have essentially been detained pending the results of the investigation.
We the undersigned are deeply concerned over the high potential for these pilots to receive unfair treatment and prejudice during the course of the investigation, especially given the large loss of life as a result of this accident. Media reports would seem to indicate that the Brazilian authorities are not willing to conduct a thorough investigation of the details (which could months or even years). Instead recent events indicate only interest in releasing unwarranted speculation to allow an unjust public trial of these pilots.
We are additionally concerned with the potential prosecution of these citizens for manslaughter, and the repercussions that this could have on US pilots flying worldwide, especially considering that accidents often as a result of many different factors, all leading up to the final disaster.
While we believe that active, honest and willful participation in an accident investigation is required by pilots of any nation, we feel that the ongoing detention of Captain Lepore and Captain Paladin is unwarranted, especially given the fact that a formal investigation can take months or even years to determine the probable cause(s).
We respectfully request that you convene a formal inquiry on the behalf of Captains Lepore and Paladino to ensure a fair and open investigation. We also request that your office use all available and necessary means to expedite their return to the United States and their families, so that they too may begin the process of coping with these traumatic events and return to some normalcy.
Thank you for your prompt action regarding this matter. We look forward to receiving a reply.
Sincerely,
We the undersigned.
________________________________________________
Joshua N. Shields
Street Address
City, State and Zip
FAA Airline Transport Pilot
[email protected]
Add your information below in the same format as shown above by replying to this thread. If you don't want to post your info publicly, please PM me or email it to the address shown. At the very least please include your full name, city state and zipcode, and your certificate types.
~Josh
Last edited by FlyerJosh; 10-07-2006 at 09:21 PM.
10-07-2006, 09:29 PM
#2
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,242
Both pilots were photographed in the nude to show the jury they hadn't been tortured by the police. This was done hours after they landed at the military base.
They are in a different legal arena than most americans would understand...
V/r,
LAFF
They are in a different legal arena than most americans would understand...
V/r,
LAFF
10-28-2006, 08:20 AM
#4
Line Holder
Joined APC: Jul 2006
Posts: 36
Latest:
American Pilots Were at Correct Altitude Over Brazil, Lawyer Says
Article Tools Sponsored By
By PAULO PRADA and MATTHEW L. WALD
Published: October 28, 2006
RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct. 27 — The lawyer representing the pilots of an American corporate jet that apparently collided with a Brazilian airliner on Sept. 29 said Friday that his clients were at their assigned altitude at the time of the crash, despite a flight plan that specified a different altitude.
The corporate plane was a Legacy, built by Embraer, a Brazilian manufacturer. It apparently clipped a Boeing 737 operated by Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes, which crashed, killing all 154 people on board.
The collision apparently occurred at 37,000 feet. Brazilian prosecutors have noted that the flight plan, filed by the crew before departure, called for that altitude, and then a descent to 36,000 feet before the location where the collision occurred, and then climbing to 38,000.
The lawyer, Roberto A. Torricella Jr., who is based in Miami, said the two American pilots had confirmed those details. But he says they also told him that when they took off from the southeastern city of São José dos Campos, where their new plane had been made, they were given a clearance by Brazilian air traffic control that superseded the flight plan.
The takeoff clearance called for 37,000 feet for the entire route up to the point of the crash, Mr. Torricella said. As a result, he said, the plane was at the proper altitude.
It is unclear whether testimony by Brazilian air traffic controllers, who have been interviewed for the crash investigation, supports that a takeoff clearance of 37,000 feet was granted. Telephone calls to Brazil’s civil aviation authority and air force, which are responsible for the investigation, were not returned Friday night. Investigators for state and federal police forces, who are conducting a criminal investigation, could not be reached for comment.
The American pilots, Joseph Lepore, 42, of Bay Shore, N.Y., and Jan Paladino, 34, of Westhampton, N.Y., flying for ExcelAire Service Inc. of Ronkonkoma, N.Y., remain in Brazil. They have not been charged with wrongdoing, but a judge ordered their passports seized to keep them in the country until a criminal investigation is complete.
Mr. Torricella said that the pilots were questioned immediately by investigators and the police, but had not yet been interviewed by the federal police. Aviation experts said the police might not be ready to do so. Searchers only recently found the 737’s cockpit voice recorder, which is being sent to Canada for analysis. There may be other evidence that they have not finished analyzing.
In addition, Brazil is holding a presidential election on Sunday, and the crash has inflamed passions. A prosecutor once speculated that the American crew had turned off their transponder, a device that makes the plane more visible on radar and visible to other planes’ anticollision warning system.
American Pilots Were at Correct Altitude Over Brazil, Lawyer Says
Article Tools Sponsored By
By PAULO PRADA and MATTHEW L. WALD
Published: October 28, 2006
RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct. 27 — The lawyer representing the pilots of an American corporate jet that apparently collided with a Brazilian airliner on Sept. 29 said Friday that his clients were at their assigned altitude at the time of the crash, despite a flight plan that specified a different altitude.
The corporate plane was a Legacy, built by Embraer, a Brazilian manufacturer. It apparently clipped a Boeing 737 operated by Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes, which crashed, killing all 154 people on board.
The collision apparently occurred at 37,000 feet. Brazilian prosecutors have noted that the flight plan, filed by the crew before departure, called for that altitude, and then a descent to 36,000 feet before the location where the collision occurred, and then climbing to 38,000.
The lawyer, Roberto A. Torricella Jr., who is based in Miami, said the two American pilots had confirmed those details. But he says they also told him that when they took off from the southeastern city of São José dos Campos, where their new plane had been made, they were given a clearance by Brazilian air traffic control that superseded the flight plan.
The takeoff clearance called for 37,000 feet for the entire route up to the point of the crash, Mr. Torricella said. As a result, he said, the plane was at the proper altitude.
It is unclear whether testimony by Brazilian air traffic controllers, who have been interviewed for the crash investigation, supports that a takeoff clearance of 37,000 feet was granted. Telephone calls to Brazil’s civil aviation authority and air force, which are responsible for the investigation, were not returned Friday night. Investigators for state and federal police forces, who are conducting a criminal investigation, could not be reached for comment.
The American pilots, Joseph Lepore, 42, of Bay Shore, N.Y., and Jan Paladino, 34, of Westhampton, N.Y., flying for ExcelAire Service Inc. of Ronkonkoma, N.Y., remain in Brazil. They have not been charged with wrongdoing, but a judge ordered their passports seized to keep them in the country until a criminal investigation is complete.
Mr. Torricella said that the pilots were questioned immediately by investigators and the police, but had not yet been interviewed by the federal police. Aviation experts said the police might not be ready to do so. Searchers only recently found the 737’s cockpit voice recorder, which is being sent to Canada for analysis. There may be other evidence that they have not finished analyzing.
In addition, Brazil is holding a presidential election on Sunday, and the crash has inflamed passions. A prosecutor once speculated that the American crew had turned off their transponder, a device that makes the plane more visible on radar and visible to other planes’ anticollision warning system.
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