Story ID: 
ExcelAire Blames Brazilian ATC for Midair
By: AIN Staff
Caption: New York-based charter operator ExcelAire recently submitted to Brazilian Federal Police Chief Renato Sayao a 150-page report on the September 29 midair be
Word Count: 144
New York-based charter operator ExcelAire recently submitted to Brazilian Federal Police Chief Renato Sayao a 150-page report on the September 29 midair between an ExcelAire Legacy and a Gol Airlines 737. The Portuguese-language report, which the company claims is the first “minute-by-minute” account of the flight, including a “detailed analysis” of radar data, “leaves no question that the principal cause of the accident was the breakdown of the air traffic control system,” said Theo Dias, Brazilian attorney for ExcelAire and its pilots, Joe Lepore and Jan Paladino. The report also alleges that equipment that operates in conjunction with the transponder, TCAS and other avionics in the Legacy “has not been analyzed or tested by anyone,” according to Dias. “Based upon the open questions identified in the report…it would be premature for the Federal Police to recommend criminal charges against anyone [including controllers] at this time.”