American Pilots Get Back Their Wings in Brazil and Fly to the US

American pilots Joe Lepore and Jan Paladino have left Brazil about 4:30 pm, today, aboard a Legacy private jet from Guarulhos International Airport in São Paulo. The departure went unnoticed by reporters trying to cover the event.

The news was given later by the US consulate in São Paulo. All reporters were able to notice is that there was no flight scheduled to leave for the United States at the time they were told to have left. The Legacy they flew in doesn’t belong to air-taxi company ExcelAire, their American employer.

The Americans got their passports back, this afternoon, more than two months after they were confiscated by the Brazilian authorities following the collision of the Legacy executive jet they were piloting with the Boeing 737 over the Amazon jungle on September 29.

Before they were handed their documents, today, by the federal police they had to go through a six-hour interrogatory at São Paulo’s Federal Police headquarters.

As expected they were indicted under the Brazilian Penal Code’s article 261 charged with having exposed the Brazilian air traffic security to danger.

Barring any last-minute surprise both should fly back home to the United States before the end of the day.

According to one of the pilots lawyer the crime they are being charged with carries a 2 to 5 year jail sentence. The Federal Police decided that theirs was an involuntary crime meaning that they didn’t have the intention to cause the accident or the deaths of the 154 people aboard the Boeing 737.

Lepore and Paladino left the Marriott hotel, in Copacabana beach, in which they were confined since October 3 very early in the morning in order to fly to São Paulo.

They arrived at the São Paulo Federal Police at 7:45 am and half an hour later had already started their testimony. Their lawyers say the pilots didn’t say a word during the six-hour procedure.

According to the Federal Police, however, the two Americans answered the questions posed by Federal Police chiefs Ramon da Silva, from Mato Grosso state and Rubem Maleiner from Brazilian capital Brasí­lia.

The two American pilots came accompanied by four workers from the American consulate and by their two lawyers, former Justice Minister, José Carlos Dias, and Theo Dias.

While Paladino came dressed up, with a dark suit, his colleague Lepore was wearing a blue shirt with short sleeves.

Tags:

You May Also Like

Rio Answers to 11% of All Brazilian Exports. US Is Main Destination

Exports from the state of Rio de Janeiro grew 31.5% in the first half ...

Analysts Upgrade Forecast for Brazil’s Surplus to US$ 38 Billion

The good performance in Brazilian exports in the beginning of the year has caused ...

In Effort to Curb the Real Brazil Taxes ADR

The Brazilian government has just taken another measure aimed at containing the appreciation of ...

With 2 Million Kids Working Brazil Promises End to Child Labor

Since 1996 the Brazilian government has been able to rescue 930 thousand working children ...

Brazil’s Chemical Industry Exports Grow 29% to US$ 5.4 Billion

Exports by the Brazilian chemical industry reached US$ 5.4 billion from January to September ...

In Brazil the Left Thrives

The big winners of Brazil’s 1964 military coup, unlike what the Brazilian military think, ...

Brazilians doing business in Casablanca's roundtable

For Brazilians, Casablanca Is the Beginning of a Beautiful Deal

The majority of representatives of Brazilian companies participating in a mission to North Africa, ...

Brazil, a Land of Nobles and Serfs

"In Brazil, one population today has medical services as sophisticated as those of the ...

Tsunami Should Not Distract World from Haiti, says Brazil

“The most important ingredients for peace in Haiti are hope, confidence, and legitimacy,” the ...

Risk Brazil Higher than Argentina’s Risk Rating

For the first time in five years investment bank JP Morgan country risk list ...