Mixed ruling in Brazil crash deaths
SAO PAULO, Brazil - A judge threw out negligence charges against two American pilots accused of contributing to the 2006 crash of a passenger jet in the Amazon that killed 154 people, state media and a lawyer for the pilots said yesterday.
SAO PAULO, Brazil - A judge threw out negligence charges against two American pilots accused of contributing to the 2006 crash of a passenger jet in the Amazon that killed 154 people, state media and a lawyer for the pilots said yesterday.
But the judge refused to dismiss charges similar to involuntary manslaughter for pilots Joseph Lepore of Bay Shore, N.Y., and Jan Paladino of Westhampton Beach, N.Y., lawyer Joel Weiss said.
Judge Murilo Mendes also dismissed some charges lodged against four Brazilian air traffic controllers accused of failing to keep the Embraer Legacy 600 flown by the American pilots from a collision course with a Gol Airlines Boeing 737, according to Agencia Brasil.
The larger Gol jet plunged into the jungle after the planes collided. It disintegrated on impact in jungle Sept. 29, 2006, killing all aboard. The Embraer was damaged but landed safely at a Brazilian military base.
The case is on track to be tried next year.