Please Help Fellow Pilots Stuck In Brazil Come Home

[CAL EWR B737]

TO ALL:


Please help fellow aviators Joe Lepore and Jan Paladino who are essentially falsely imprisoned in Brazil return home to their family's. Joe is former Business Express and Trans States and Jan is former American Eagle and furloughed American.





Please read - New York Times reporter Joe Sharkey who was a passenger on the Legacy.

JOESHARKEY.COM


Recent news articles


Court Won't Return U.S. Pilots' Passports - washingtonpost.com



Click here: Brazilian flight controllers decline to be questioned by police about crash - iht,america,Brazil Plane Crash - Ame

 

[CAL EWR B737]

http://forums.flightinfo.com/showthread.php?t=89348



Rather than wasting bandwith and re posting for those of you who have already read this threat please click on the link to view the thread in the major airlines section.

 

[CAL EWR B737]

I am asking for everyone on this forum, posters and lurkers to take a few minutes and help out some fellow aviators, possible union brothers and fellow Americans who need your help.

If you could please do two things you will be helping these men get home to their families:

1: Write to your Senator and Congressperson via the links below.

2: Call the New York Senators and Congressperson offices listed at the beginning of this thread. You will speak to staffers and it will take you all of five minutes. If these NY Politicians here from hundreds or thousands of concerned citizens maybe just maybe something will get done. It will take only a few moments of your time but in unison it will send a strong message. It doesn't matter if you're not a New York State resident.

Thank you in advance. Remember many of us fly internationally, this could happen to anyone of us and if it did wouldn't you want your fellow aviators to help get you home?

Also I have been in contact with ALPA they are going to meet with the US State Department and will also be calling Joe and Jan and their families shortly.




Click here: Write Your Representative - Contact your Congressperson in the U.S. House of Representatives.



Click here: U.S. Senate: Senators Home

 

[federico]

Are they being backed up by their company and the plane maker or are they on their own

 

[CAL EWR B737]

I can't speak for the manufacturer however Excelair their company is backing them as best they can. They have hired attorneys and giving support in every way they can. I spoke to Excellair yesterday to notify them that ALPA President Elect John Prater was going to assist, he is meeting with the State Department shortly. They were very happy ALPA was committed to helping their pilots as they have limited resources.

 

[ReportCanoa]

Sorry, but this is the risk you take flying internationally. Make no mistake about it, this ain't Kansas anymore. They'll be let go when the politics allow. In the mean time, they're at Ipanema chillin at the Marriott.

BTW, Joe Sharkey is not an aviation expert, he only feels guilty about the disaster, and this is his way of trying to make a right out of 154 wrongs.

 

[Tomct]

Sorry, but this is the risk you take flying internationally. Make no mistake about it, this ain't Kansas anymore. They'll be let go when the politics allow. In the mean time, they're at Ipanema chillin at the Marriott.

BTW, Joe Sharkey is not an aviation expert, he only feels guilty about the disaster, and this is his way of trying to make a right out of 154 wrongs.

Dude, you need to back the truck up with your attitude! We should all back our fellow Aviators! Smart @ss comments like this do NOTHING for your integrity. How would YOU feel?

737: Good post, I contacted both Senators and hopefully we can help in getting the ball rolling! Has APA been notified? Seeing how one of "Their" pilots is being held, they should also step in with ALPA and make some noise!! Thanks for bringing this to our attention!!

 

[CAL EWR B737]

. In the mean time, they're at Ipanema chillin at the Marriott.

.

NOT TRUE

Reposted from another forum with the authors permission.

>>This is certainly no vacation for either of these pilots. I used to work with Jan, and he has corresponded with me about his situation. Make no mistake. This crew is under house arrest and are fearful of their own safety.

They are professionals that were involved in a terrible accident. Following the accident they willfully submitted to the requests of the Brazilian government by being debriefed and interviewed multiple times.

Three days after the accident, things went south. The Defense Minister publicly accused the pilots of intentionally turning off their transponder and performing aerobatic maneuvers to "test the limits of their new aircraft." He also accused them of deviating from a filed flight plan, and not complying with ATC instructions. Keep in mind that this is the same person that is charged with ensuring that the investigation is unbiased and fair. Also keep in mind that on this delivery flight there was a reporter, and several executives from both Embraer and the company that employed the pilots, ExcelAire. Not exactly the situation where I would be going out and doing steep turns and stalls (let alone aerobatic flight).

Shortly after, the ministry of justice announced that they were planning to seek charges (including possible murder charges) against any responsible parties. The Brazilian public was out for blood.

As a result, these pilots have spent no more than a handful of hours under the sunlight. Those hours that they have been out of their rooms, I've been told that it was on the roof of the hotel, also under close guard for their own protection. They are locked in their hotel rooms. Their families are not available any longer, as life must continue back in the states.

In the past weeks, it has become more apparent that ATC has played a significant role in this accident. If you've ever been to Brazil and flown through the area where the accident occurred, you would know that both radar coverage and particularly radio coverage can be sporadic. CVR recordings have apparently revealed that ATC did in fact assign the Legacy the altitude at which they were flying, and the FDR shows that the Legacy was in straight and level flight at the time of impact.

In addition, the government has yet to interview the controllers that were working on the day of the collision. These controllers have been placed on ADMINISTRATIVE MEDICAL LEAVE, and have refused to cooperate with the investigators or give any type of statements.

Today marks 50 days since the accident. These pilots have fully cooperated with the Brazilian authorities. If (and this is a big if, IMHO), it is found through a thorough investigation, that there was extreme negligence on the part of the pilots that warrants criminal charges, then there are established extradition treaties for their return to Brazil.

However, I think that it sets a very dangerous precedence when governments (of any country) start any aviation disaster investigation with finger pointing and threats of criminal prosecution, instead of investigating to find the cause and prevent it from happening again, especially if the investigators want full cooperation from all parties... The fact that the controllers have clammed up shows exactly why it's imperative not to point fingers and toss claims of "murder charges" around during an active investigation.

Finally, if you know anything about this business, accident investigations take months, if not years to come to a final determination. Do you expect these pilots to be confined until then?<<



>>Again, guys - not to beat a dead horse here, but this could have EASILY been any one of us. Neither these guys nor the Gol crew had responsibility for this tragedy. They were both flying the course and altitude that the incompetent Brazilian air traffic controllers assigned them. If you have time, PLEASE speak to your local Federal representatives and tell them to get the State Department engaged to get these guys home NOW. I spoke with Joe Lepore last night - the guys have been moved to another hotel in another city to ensure their safety. Other than that, they're in good shape, and as you can imagine, eager to get home. Their wives are being allowed to visit them for the holidays. The wives will head down there under tight security, and spend a few days with their husbands before having to leave and head home again for continued seperation. It will be the first time these guys have seen their wives since just days after this tragedy occurred. Any noise you can make for these guys, and anyone in the future who may find themselves in a similar situation, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.<<

 

[CAL EWR B737]

Dude, you need to back the truck up with your attitude! We should all back our fellow Aviators! Smart @ss comments like this do NOTHING for your integrity. How would YOU feel?

737: Good post, I contacted both Senators and hopefully we can help in getting the ball rolling! Has APA been notified? Seeing how one of "Their" pilots is being held, they should also step in with ALPA and make some noise!! Thanks for bringing this to our attention!!

I contacted APA on Friday. I spoke to the Communications Chairman and he was going to speak to the President of APA on Monday to see if they could put out a press release in support just like ALPA .

 

[CAL EWR B737]

Sorry, but this is the risk you take flying internationally. Make no mistake about it, this ain't Kansas anymore. They'll be let go when the politics allow. In the mean time, they're at Ipanema chillin at the Marriott.

From The ALPA Press Release:


Release #06.063
November 16, 2006

ALPA and IFALPA Call for Immediate Release for Legacy Pilots
WASHINGTON, D.C. --- Both the U.S. pilots union and their international umbrella federation are calling for the release of the two American pilots who are being detained in Brazil pending the investigation of a tragic midair collision there.

The Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), which represents most airline pilots in the U.S., fully supports the following announcement issued today by the International Federation of Air Line Pilots Associations (IFALPA), of which ALPA is a member:

“The International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA) calls on the Brazilian authorities to expedite the conclusion of an independent technical investigation into the circumstances surrounding the tragic mid-air collision between a Gol Airlines B-737 and an Excelair Embraer Legacy business jet, and to release the findings of this investigation in a timely fashion.

“Thus far, only contradictory facts, rumor and unsupported allegations have been forthcoming from Brazilian government officials. To date there has been no indication from the Court, which has retained the passports of the Excelair pilots, that it has made any objective assessment of the circumstances surrounding the event.

“Furthermore, the Federation notes that there are internationally agreed procedures enshrined by treaty that allow countries to pursue appropriate criminal prosecutions against citizens of another state if sufficient evidence can be presented to show that an internationally recognised crime has been committed.

“Therefore, there is no valid reason for the continued detention of the two Excelair pilots. As a result, the Federation demands that the Brazilian authorities immediately return the passports of the Excelair pilots and that these pilots be allowed to return to their homes forthwith.”

​

The action by the Brazilian authorities reflects a disturbing trend in worldwide aviation to impose criminal sanctions on individuals who are involved in aviation accidents. Criminal prosecution is rare in the U.S. It is unfair and unwarranted in all but a very few extremely egregious cases. More importantly, it works against the public interest in preventing future accidents because it inhibits the free flow of information that is crucial to uncovering the causes of accidents and taking corrective measures.
ALPA, founded in 1931, represents 61,000 airline pilots at 40 U.S. carriers. Its website is www.alpa.org. IFALPA, through its member associations, represents more than 100,000 airline pilots in more than 95 countries. Its website is at www.ifalpa.org.

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CONTACT: Gideon Ewers, IFALPA Media Communications Officer
+44 1932 579041 or e-mail at [email protected]