Media: Probe of plane crash points to transponder
SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) — A Brazilian Air Force investigation has concluded that a switched-off transponder contributed to a plane crash that killed 154 people in 2006, local media reported on Saturday.
The Estado de Sao Paulo and Folha de Sao Paulo newspapers said that Air Force investigators determined that the two American pilots of a New York-based executive jet had inadvertently placed the transponder and the collision-avoidance system on standby before colliding with a jetliner on Sept. 29, 2006.
The newspapers said the Air Force also concluded that flight controllers failed to alert the pilots that they were on a collision course and failed to notice that the transponder was turned off. Calls to the Air Force for comment went unanswered on Saturday. The report is scheduled to be released formally on Wednesday.
The Boeing 737 operated by Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA collided over the Amazon rain forest with an Embraer Legacy 600 executive jet owned by ExcelAire Service Inc. of Ronkonkoma, New York.
Everyone aboard the Gol aircraft was killed, while the Legacy landed safely.
Four flight controllers on duty at the time of the accident and the two U.S. pilots - Joseph Lepore of Bay Shore and Jan Paladino of Westhampton Beach have been indicted on charges similar to involuntary manslaughter that carry up to three years in prison.
The pilots have denied turning off the transponder and have said they were flying at an altitude designated by the air controllers.
"The transponder issue is a distraction from the true cause of the accident, which is an air traffic control system that put two airplanes on a collision course for about an hour," said David Rimmer, ExcelAire's executive vice president, speaking by telephone on Saturday.
He said Brazilian flight controllers failed to "recognize the transponder failure and to provide increased separation between the two jets, as required by international aviation regulations."
"We have no proof of how the transponder was turned off and no evidence to suggest it was inadvertently turned off by the pilots" Rimmer added, complaining that the Air Force "relied on theories rather than conducting in-depth testing of the equipment."
The Air Force investigation, separate from court actions, is meant to determine the causes of the accident and recommend measures to help avoid similar tragedies, the two newspapers said.
The American pilots were allowed to leave Brazil after agreeing to return if courts summon them.
This computer-generated image shows the two jets a split second prior to collision
The damage to the Legacy's wing. Notice that the winglet has been sheared completely off.
It has been revealed that the final report into a midair collision that killed 154 people in 2006 will blame a string of human error for the disaster. Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907, a Boeing 737, crashed into the ground after an Embraer Legacy 600 executive jet's wing clipped it. The Legacy, owned by ExcelAire, performed an emergency landing at a nearby airbase. 

The report says the Legacy's transponder was "inadvertently turned off by the hand of one of the pilots," and says this was the "central point in a chain of errors" leading to the collision. Crucially, the transponder failure - which the US pilots have denied causing - prevented the Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) from functioning.
A chunk of wreckage from the Gol airliner.
The investigation, which was conducted by the Brazilian Air Force, criticised air traffic control (ATC) on a number of points; the Legacy was not properly advised on the altitude at which it should be cruising, when one controller changed shift there was a miscommunication between them about the Legacy's altitude and there was a failure of communication between the Legacy and ATC.

The ExcelAire pilots, Joseph Lepore and Jan Paladino, were only allowed to return home after promising they would return to Brazil if summoned by the courts. The pair, along with four air traffic controllers, have been indicted over the crash and all six face up to three years in prison each.
Collision detail
The purpose of this investigation, however, was not to acertain blame but to determine the root causes and suggest measures by which a reccurence can be avoided. Some moves have already been made in the aftermath; the accident was the deadliest in Brazil until TAM Airlines Flight 3054 crashed the following year and both were responsible for the 2006-2007 Brazilian aviation crisis. In response, a major overhaul of the nation's military ATC system is underway.

ExcelAire's executive vice president David Rimmer was critical of the report. "The transponder issue is a distraction from the true cause of the accident, which is an air traffic control system that put two airplanes on a collision course for about an hour," he said. He complained that ATC did not "recognize the transponder failure and to provide increased separation between the two jets, as required by international aviation regulations."

He was also concerned by the Air Force's methodology and the conclusions drawn from it. "We have no proof of how the transponder was turned off and no evidence to suggest it was inadvertently turned off by the pilots," he said. "The Air Force relied on theories rather than conducting in-depth testing of the equipment."

The report's official release is next week, however it has already been seen by Brazilian newspapers, hence making its findings public today.