Brazilian official's quote

[NYRANGERS]

Brazilian reporter's quote

Unbelievable....they equate an accident with the worst terroist attack in history.


"There is a sense of mourning in the country," Vieira said. "After September 11, the American people were looking for someone to blame. After Brazil's worst air disaster, it is a natural feeling to blame these two pilots."

 

[crash-proof]

While I don't agree with this extreme and sensationalist position from the reporter.............there WERE 155 lives taken. If in fact the Xtransponder was purposely turned off, then there will be a price to pay.

Let's turn this around and pretend this happened here, in the US, where a Southwest 737 gets knocked down by a Legacy flown by brazilian demo pilots. Would they get away with this? So far all I've been hearing on this board is "get them out of Brazil!!!" but if they truely are guilty, does it really matter whether it happened in Brazil, USA, Russia, England.....Allow the investigation take its course, and we'll see what happens. Remember, the NTSB is heavily involved in this, I don't believe there will be any tampering or meddling on the part of the braz. aviation authorities. Big-time diplomacy involved too.

note: this post written after mild consumption of cap n coke

 

[crash-proof]

And, may I add, what right does the US have to claim rights over the term "9-11"? If so and so reporter claims that this is Brazil's 9-11, why the fuss? No one is attributing this to terrorists, they are drawing parallels to the human tragedy aspect. Is it heresy to use the term 9-11?

This is HUGE news down there, and will be for quite a while.

 

[Going2Baja]

I admit I haven't been following this that closely - but are you saying that the pilots of the Legacy may have had the X-pndr turned off? If so why? And if we think for a second that the Brazilian Govt wouldn't turn the knob to the off position to try and save their hides - we're crazy. Don't be fooled - Brazil isn't that far off of being a third world country. I've spent a few months down there and have seen it first hand.

Baja.

 

[glasspilot1]

If in fact the Xtransponder was purposely turned off, then there will be a price to pay.

Lets say they turned the XPDR off for whatever reason. They are in a non-radar environment. Before landing they turn it back on. (The pilots have their story and they're sticking to it.) Can anybody prove it was off?

What if the 737's XPDR was off? I know, very unlikely, but remember they were in a non-radar environment, so who knows? It will be interesting if the 737 voice recorder reveals any TCAS commands.

The fact is TCAS is one of the biggest safety tools we have. Any professional pilot who doesn't use it is a fool, especially with no radar separation!

 

[glasspilot1]

And if we think for a second that the Brazilian Govt wouldn't turn the knob to the off position to try and save their hides - we're crazy.

Keep in mind that you normally turn the transponder to "standby" after landing. "But we had it on in the air"!

 

[ground stop]

sao paulo(sic) is pretty much a war zone. if anything should be brazil's 9-11 it should be their prison uprisings, not that this detracts from the horror of having a plane full of people go down. if there was anywhere you'd want your tcas on it would be where there is little to no radar coverage. just doesn't make sense to have the xponder off, but then again there's alot that dooesn't make sense when it comes to tragedy.

 

[Going2Baja]

Are the Brasilians suggesting that the Legacy had the Xpdr off (or standby?)

 

[J32driver]

Theres another thread running with an AD about the transponder. Apparently under certain conditions it can turn itself off with no warning to the pilots. The AD was proposed towards the middle of September with an effective date of the beginning of October I think. Its possible these people were victims of the AD.

 

[BoeingBoy]

Comparing 9/11, a pre-meditated attack on civilians on a massive scale to an airline accident, even if deliberate negligence occurred is not a fair comparison. The comparison is disingenuous and dishonest.

 

[Brasgaucho]

No one is comparing 911 to the Gol/Legacy accident; I believe he is talking about post-disaster feelings/emotions which Brazilians are also entitled to.
Everybody is talking like those guys have been sent to Abu Ghraib prison, while they are staying at JW Marriott hotel, in Copacaba.
They should be back in Long Island by the end of the month.

 

[NYRANGERS]

They should be back in Long Island by the end of the month.

No, they should be back at home last month. The US and brazil have an extradition treaty. It was an accident.

One more thing, I am curious why the brazilian (air force) controllers tried to assign an RVSM altitude to an airplane the were only getting a primary radar return from?? The ATC tapes have the BAF controllers calling the Legacy 7 times trying to assign FL360, while they are not getting a secondary (read transponder) radar return. Without a secondary return the Legacy would be unable to maintain RVSM, the crew of the Legacy did not know the BAF werer only getting a primary return..the BAF should have provided 2000 feet of separation to any aircraft they had no contact with.

NYR

 

[MD80DRVR]

Maybe the P.O.S Embraer transponder wasn't working. I've certainly had my fair share of P.O.S Embraer's lately. Their quality control from the factory is terrible.

 

[Guitar rocker]

Theres another thread running with an AD about the transponder. Apparently under certain conditions it can turn itself off with no warning to the pilots. The AD was proposed towards the middle of September with an effective date of the beginning of October I think. Its possible these people were victims of the AD.

I saw this AD as well. Do we know if it applies to the EMB jet?

 

[NYRANGERS]

I saw this AD as well. Do we know if it applies to the EMB jet?

The AD states the EMB 135bj, I know some may suspect Joe Sharkey had a bias, but at joesharkey.com you can read the AD and it INCLUDES the Legacy. And this......


Request To Revise Compliance Time Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica S.A. (EMBRAER) requests that we extend the compliance time for the AFM revision from 5 to 30 days. EMBRAER asserts that the loss of the transponder does not pose so great of a hazard to justify such an urgent compliance time. As justification for extending the compliance time, EMBRAER states that some of the affected airplanes might be on international trips, where it may not be possible to return an airplane to a convenient location and accomplish the AFM revision within 5 days after the effective date of this AD.


And if it was covered by the recall, maybe Honeywell should look again. If it was a problem before, may it still is.

 

[NYRANGERS]

No, they should be back at home last month. The US and brazil have an extradition treaty. It was an accident.

One more thing, I am curious why the brazilian (air force) controllers tried to assign an RVSM altitude to an airplane the were only getting a primary radar return from?? The ATC tapes have the BAF controllers calling the Legacy 7 times trying to assign FL360, while they are not getting a secondary (read transponder) radar return. Without a secondary return the Legacy would be unable to maintain RVSM, the crew of the Legacy did not know the BAF werer only getting a primary return..the BAF should have provided 2000 feet of separation to any aircraft they had no contact with.

NYR

BAF should have provided 2000 foot separation to aircraft they were in communication with. Why is there not a BIG question as to why the 737 was not informed about an aircraft that was at the same alt. as the the 737. THE BAF IS TRYING TO SCAPEGOAT A CREW, simple as that!!

 

[FN FAL]

Unbelievable....they equate an accident with the worst terroist attack in history.

How is 9/11 the "worst" terrorist attack in history...it looked pretty successful to me.

"...in history" is pretty presumptive and the word "terrorist" possesses a definition that is easily manipulated.

 

[FN FAL]

No, they should be back at home last month. The US and brazil have an extradition treaty.

You're saying that the US government wants Brazil to send the pilots back to the US to face drug trafficking charges? You better go read that treaty.

 

[NYRANGERS]

How is 9/11 the "worst" terrorist attack in history...it looked pretty successful to me.

quote]

Are you sick? It's not that hard to understand the meaning of the post. As Americans and Patriots we choose to use the word "worst", you obviously choose otherwise.

 

[NYRANGERS]

You're saying that the US government wants Brazil to send the pilots back to the US to face drug trafficking charges? You better go read that treaty.

"Rice is in the Middle East and there was no immediate response to the letter. However, the State Department said if the pilots were allowed to leave and were later charged, there is an extradition treaty between the two countries. Spokesman Tom Casey said confiscating passports is standard procedure in Brazil".