US Pilots Association Says Brazil Air Authorities Made Terrible Mistake

The damaged Legacy that collided with Boeing 737 The Allied Pilots Association (APA), which representing the 12,000 pilots of American Airlines, has issued a statement concerning the recent decision by a Brazilian federal judge to indict two pilots from the United States who were involved in a mid-air collision over  the Brazilian Amazon last year.

On September 29, 2006, Gol Airlines Flight 1907, a Boeing 737, went down with the loss of all 154 aboard following a mid-air collision with an Embraer Legacy 600 operated by ExcelAire Service of Ronkonkoma, New York.

The ExcelAire jet piloted by American pilots Joe Lepore and Jan Paladino landed safely at a remote military airfield.

"Criminalizing the accident investigation process," reads the APA statement, "establishes an extremely unfortunate precedent and is a terrible mistake. Accident investigations should be conducted based on widely accepted International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Annex 13 guidelines, rather than as a criminal proceeding.

"The goal of any accident investigation should be to determine the accident’s cause to prevent a recurrence. Criminalizing an investigation will almost certainly have a chilling effect on the willingness of involved parties to be forthcoming with critical information.

"Accordingly, we urge the Brazilian authorities to rethink their approach to determining the cause of this tragic accident."

Founded in 1963, the Allied Pilots Association – the largest independent pilot union in the U.S. – is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas.

The association represents the 12,000 pilots of American Airlines, including 2,688 pilots on furlough. The furloughs began shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Also, several hundred American Airlines pilots are on full-time military leave of absence serving in the armed forces. American Airlines is the nation’s largest passenger carrier.

Tags:

You May Also Like

Let’s stop aping the US

It’s time to shop around and stop following blindly the Americans. In some ways ...

Oscar Ahoy

Is Central do Brasil a long shot for the main Oscar? Michael Barker, Sony ...

Brazil Opens Market and Offers Zero Tariff to Poorest Countries

During the Progressive Governance Summit, in Pretoria, South Africa, on Sunday, February 12, Brazilian ...

Drought Leaves Amazon Populations in Brazil Isolated Without Water, Food and Medicine

The drought in the Amazon basin which has limited navigation in many tributaries leaving ...

The Ball Game

CDs or Books by Keyword, Title or Author By John Miller Bus adventures continued ...

Dilma, Marina, Heloí­sa, 3 Women Who Wish to Be Brazil’s Next President

Brazil's southeastern state of São Paulo governor José Serra and main reference of the ...

Immunity Violation: Bolivia Accused of Doing to Brazil What Evo Morales Complained About EU

Brazilian authorities are saying that Bolivia violated the immunity of a Brazilian Air Force ...

With Old Woman’s Death Brazil Amazon Tribe Reduced to Five People

Decimated in the 1980s and living isolated in the northern Brazilian state of Rondônia ...

Arrogance and Press Bashing at the Root of Dilma Rousseff’s Fall from Grace in Brazil

In Brazil, political analysts are trying to explain why Brazilian presidential elections went sour ...

Only the Best

In a display of excellent shape the Brazilian Chamber of Books has announced its ...