Date: 2/6/2009
SAO PAULO (AP) — A Brazilian prosecutor wants negligence charges reinstated against two New York pilots whose small jet was involved in one of Brazil’s worst air disasters.
Pilots Joseph Lepore and Jan Paladino were accused of contributing to the 2006 crash of a Brazilian passenger jet that killed 154 people when their Embraer Legacy jet collided with a Boeing 737 over the Amazon.
A federal judge threw out negligence charges last year, saying the two pilots did not know they were on a collision course.
Now federal prosecutor Analicia Trindade has filed a motion to overturn the judge’s decision. Her spokeswoman says the prosecutor “feels the two pilots failed to follow proper emergency measures when they realized the plane’s communications system was flawed.”
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.