Sunday, October 7, 2007

Unsafe Skies? Why, I Oughta....


How DARE They Say These Skies Are Unsafe!

…Uh, because more than 350 people died in two separate horrendous accidents in Brazil in the last year, and that’s not counting the close calls. Uh, because the Brazilian military (which runs air traffic control) has toiled endlessly to assign blame to the American pilots in the Sept. 29 accident (no one lived through the July accident to get blamed. Uh, because Brazilian air traffic controllers are underpaid, unhappy, poorly trained and in many cases even unable to respond to or speak English, the lingua franca of aviation the world over.

Every significant international aviation and pilots and even air traffic controllers associations have condemned Brazil's atrocious performance, including its extremely unwise politicization and criminalization of accidents.

And now we again have the spectacle of Brazilian military authorities again going into their familiar defensive crouch. The latest salvo at Brazil comes from the international association of

First, this from today’s Brazzil Magazine (www.brazzil.com), whixh is published in English. Evidently, Wolderful Waldir Pires – the Colonel Blimp-like defense minister who insisted the American pilots were doing loop d loops when the crash occurred, has been replaced by more of the same. Where do they GET these officers! (Oh, I forgot, the country was a military dictatorship for about 25 years):

Brazil Outraged by Suggestion that New Air Accident Is Matter of Time

Sunday, 07 October 2007

Brazzil Magazine

Brazil Outraged by Suggestion that New Air Accident Is Matter of Time

Written by Newsroom

Friday, 05 October 2007

The head of an international air traffic controllers organization who said that it was only "a matter of time" before there was a new air disaster in Brazil was rebuffed by Brazilian Defense Minister, Nelson Jobim, Brazil's top aviation official.

In a interview to Brazil's official government news agency, Radiobrás, Minister Jobim defended Brazil's air traffic control system and said comments that another air accident was inevitable were politically motivated.

"This is a game within the corporation, in other words, they're playing politics. We can't excuse this type of manifestation," Jobim told Radiobrás.

Jobim's remarks came in response to comments Marc Baumgartner, president of the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers made to the BBC Brazil Wednesday at a seminar in the United States.

According to BBC Brazil, Baumgartner said "it's a question of time before a new air accident happens again in Brazil."

Baumgartner also harshly criticized the Brazilian Air Force, which oversees the nation's air traffic control system, for trying to punish the controllers involved in the Sept. 29, 2006 crash of a Boeing 737 operated by Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA over the Amazon, killing all 154 people aboard.

"The Brazilian Air Force invested lots of energy to arrest and prosecute its own workers but none to fix its (air traffic control) system," Baumgartner was quoted by the O Globo news agency.

The September 29 crash was Brazil's worst air disaster until July, when a TAM Linhas Aereas SA Airbus crashed into a warehouse in São Paulo killing 199 people. The second accident had wide ranging political repercussions, with many accusing the government of failing to act on problems exposed by the Gol crash.

Following the accident President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva sacked Defense Minister, Waldir Pires, and named Jobim who was given full support to implement all reforms he considered necessary to improve the Brazilian air system.

One of the steps taken was to redistribute operations from Brazil's busiest air terminal Congonhas in São Paulo to other airports and drastically cutting flight delays and cancellations. Jobim is also considering the possibility of handing air traffic control from the Air Force to civilians.

However Jobim admits that to a certain extent the "feeling of lack of safely and chaos persists" and has repeatedly requested for support from travelers.

Earlier this week, a military court declined to indict five Brazilian air traffic controllers in connection with the Gol crash. Military prosecutors want to try four of the controllers on charges of breaking regulations, and the other one faces charges of involuntary manslaughter.

Four of the controllers and two American pilots who were aboard and executive jet that collided with the 737 still face charges in a civilian criminal court in connection with the accident.

A Congressional commission investigating air chaos in Brazil just issued its final report. The report excluded a request to indict four air traffic controllers in connection with the Gol crash but supported the indictment of American pilots Joseph Lepore and Jan Paladino.

FROM THE READERS COMMENTS SECTION:

That is Brazil excluding to indict the Brazilians at the source of the plane crash, but wishing to indict innocent foreign pilots !!!!!!

Ohhhh and a cheap but good safety idea for your airports :

DONT PUT YOUR FUEL RESERVES TANKS.....AT THE END OF A LANDING STRIP !!!!

Even idiots know this, but Brazilians are more idiots...than idiots !

Brazil is an arachaïc and medieval country.

Proof of it is that you still harvest most of your sugarcane as you did....200 years ago, when Australia has mechanized 100 % of their sugarcane harvests.....over 25 years ago !

Brazil is simply a shame to humanity, a shame to justice and social inequality !

Are you not ranked within the WORST 10......on this planet ?

YESSSSSS.....you are !

Viva Bin Lula and his 4000 thieves !

Ch.c did you take your meds today?

written by Shelly, 2007-10-06 21:03:41

Ch.c "but Brazilians are more idiots...than idiots !" Do I need to take the spoon off your ass? Or you forgot to take your meds today? You generalize, should I say all Swiss citizens have blood in their hands? Dirty money from the sale of drugs, kidnapping, corruption, flows in your banking system with no questions asked, dear, should I generalize it too?

Why would the head of a air traffic controller trade association play politics - more annoying fake bravado by a Brazilian politician/ government figure

written by ADD, 2007-10-06 23:34:49

I have lived in Rio for 4 years married into a good Brasilian family.

The Brasilian constitution needs to be overhauled. One of the most flagrant flaws is the immunity enjoyed by elected officials from serious punishment for stealing from public coffers...to the extent of not having to return the stolen money or forfeit future positions or pensions. There is absolutely no real punishment if a crooked politician gets caught. They all posture acting highly insulted when someone demonstrates they are crooks or they are incompetent or mendacious or all of the above . Its absurd.

Why would the head of an international air traffic controller trade association play politics? Its absurd. I'd be inclined to believe that Mr.Baumgartner sees problems with the Brasilian Air Traffic Control functions.

...

Once again Brazilians like you, just as usual, point their fingers elsewhere instead of at themselves. Just the same as for the plane crash when you want to indict the innocent foreign pilots but not those Brazilians at the source of the tragedy.

As to bloods, you forget that due to the voluntary mess in your society created by your politicians and governments, Brazil is one of the most violent country.....on this planet.

Did you know that 50 % of youths deaths in Brazil, aged 15-24, is due to violent deaths ?

Is this how Brazil controls its population growth ?

Yessssss Brazilians are more idiots than the average idiots.

But you truly EXCEL in cheating, lying and hiding !

"Baumgartner is a Swiss"

Who is this Junkie BUM GARTNER? Is he from Geneva? Do you know him personally? He sounds to me like another card carrying member of the "Party".

You better keep a close track on this fellow smilies/grin.gif

"Why would the head of an international air traffic controller trade association play politics ? It is absurd"

written by ch.c., 2007-10-07 05:17:33

It is not absurd...in Brazil, where they firmly believe that everything is politic.

(The comments go on, and on)


Meanwhile:

How DARE They Say These Skies Are Unsafe!

And here's a new one. In terms of odious outrage, this one ranks right up there with the nitwit band of reporters who confidently parroted some victim's lawyer's utterly false assertion that I had testified that the Legacy was doing illegal maneuvers at the time of impact.

For the record (and this is means for the U.S. readers trying to keep track of this insanity, the Legacy's radio was not turned off. Brazilian radio coverage over the Amazon is notoriously and without dispute in very bad shape. Only a sociopath would turn off the radio.

Translation by Richard Pedicini in Sao Paulo:


Legacy pilots flew with radio off
The pilots had omissive conduct, because they were only under "radar surveillance"

Agência Estado

A year having passed since the collision between the Legacy jet and the Gol Boeing, which killed 154 people on September 29 of last year, the official Air Force documents produced until now on the investigation leave no doubts: despite the controllers performance having been a "contributing" factor in the accident, the "determining" factor in the tragedy was really the two North American pilots Joseph Lepore and Jan Paul Paladino.

The Military Police Inquiry (IPM), which investigated and indicted the controllers for "carelessness" and "lack of diligence", is explicit on proving that the pilots had "omissive conduct", since they were only under "radar surveillance" by air space control, and not under "radar vectoring". This, in aeronautic language, means the following, without margin for subjective interpretations: the Brazilian controllers served as a bridge for contact and support, but, under radar surveillance, "the responsibility for navigation is that of the pilot in command of the aircraft", as the IPM says.

Brazilian Air Foce (FAB) officers listed for a reporter some point of the omissive conduct of Lepore and Paladino, who were taking the Legacy, purchased by the ExcelAire firm, from São José dos Campos (SP) to the USA. The pilots had to follow a flight plan registered in São José dos Campos and had to follow the indications on the aeronautic chart, which is a required document in the command cabin. The controllers were "careless" is supplying support services to the pilots, giving information that was truncated or in half, but Lepore and Paladino were always advised that they were flying in a condition of "radar surveillance".

The most objective point of the omissive conduct of the North American pilots is in respect to radio communication. Neither they nor any other pilot in any part of the world needs controllers to know at what frequencies they should position their communications apparatus. The navigation charts register the frequencies sector by sector. Lepore and Paladino knew that in Sector 9, between São José and Brasilia, the frequencies are 125.05MHz 133.10MHz and 121.50MHz. On entering Sector 7, in Brasilia to Manaus, the frequencies are 123.30MHz, 128.00MHz, 133.05MHz, 135 90MHz and 121.50MHz. The frequency 121.50MHz appears in all of the sectors because it is the universal emergency band.

On September 29 of last year, it was not because the Brazilian controllers supplied some incorrect radio frequency that the Legacy pilots did not communicate with Brasilia (Cindacta-1) and Manaus (Cindacta-4) or fail to make the so called communication "bridges" [relaying via another aircraft]. According to the IPM, the reason was this: their airplane had the radio turned off, just as was also turned off the transponder, a set of antennas which make contract between the airplane, the ground radars and the anticollision system (TCAS). And everything was activated by the pilots, after the collision with the Boeing.

For about an hour, between 18h50 e 19h48, the Legacy made a blind flight, with all the communications systems turned off, thus not permitting that the Brazilian Cindactas entered in contact with it. What another inquiry, the Investigation of Aeronautic Accidents (IAA) is checking is why the Legacy apparatus was turned off. The TAB does not understand how the pilots flew so long without noting that they were without radio.

###

Here's the latest. In terms of odious outrage, this one ranks right up there with the nitwit band of reporters who confidently parroted some victim's lawyer's utterly false assertion that I had testified that the Legacy was doing illegal maneuvers at the time of impact.

For the record (and this is means for the U.S. readers trying to keep track of this insanity, the Legacy's radio was not turned off. Brazilian radio coverage over the Amazon is notoriously and without dispute in very bad shape. Only a sociopath would turn off the radio.

Translation by Richard Pedicini in Sao Paulo:


Legacy pilots flew with radio off
The pilots had omissive conduct, because they were only under "radar surveillance"

Agência Estado

A year having passed since the collision between the Legacy jet and the Gol Boeing, which killed 154 people on September 29 of last year, the official Air Force documents produced until now on the investigation leave no doubts: despite the controllers performance having been a "contributing" factor in the accident, the "determining" factor in the tragedy was really the two North American pilots Joseph Lepore and Jan Paul Paladino.

The Military Police Inquiry (IPM), which investigated and indicted the controllers for "carelessness" and "lack of diligence", is explicit on proving that the pilots had "omissive conduct", since they were only under "radar surveillance" by air space control, and not under "radar vectoring". This, in aeronautic language, means the following, without margin for subjective interpretations: the Brazilian controllers served as a bridge for contact and support, but, under radar surveillance, "the responsibility for navigation is that of the pilot in command of the aircraft", as the IPM says.

Brazilian Air Foce (FAB) officers listed for a reporter some point of the omissive conduct of Lepore and Paladino, who were taking the Legacy, purchased by the ExcelAire firm, from São José dos Campos (SP) to the USA. The pilots had to follow a flight plan registered in São José dos Campos and had to follow the indications on the aeronautic chart, which is a required document in the command cabin. The controllers were "careless" is supplying support services to the pilots, giving information that was truncated or in half, but Lepore and Paladino were always advised that they were flying in a condition of "radar surveillance".

The most objective point of the omissive conduct of the North American pilots is in respect to radio communication. Neither they nor any other pilot in any part of the world needs controllers to know at what frequencies they should position their communications apparatus. The navigation charts register the frequencies sector by sector. Lepore and Paladino knew that in Sector 9, between São José and Brasilia, the frequencies are 125.05MHz 133.10MHz and 121.50MHz. On entering Sector 7, in Brasilia to Manaus, the frequencies are 123.30MHz, 128.00MHz, 133.05MHz, 135 90MHz and 121.50MHz. The frequency 121.50MHz appears in all of the sectors because it is the universal emergency band.

On September 29 of last year, it was not because the Brazilian controllers supplied some incorrect radio frequency that the Legacy pilots did not communicate with Brasilia (Cindacta-1) and Manaus (Cindacta-4) or fail to make the so called communication "bridges" [relaying via another aircraft]. According to the IPM, the reason was this: their airplane had the radio turned off, just as was also turned off the transponder, a set of antennas which make contract between the airplane, the ground radars and the anticollision system (TCAS). And everything was activated by the pilots, after the collision with the Boeing.

For about an hour, between 18h50 e 19h48, the Legacy made a blind flight, with all the communications systems turned off, thus not permitting that the Brazilian Cindactas entered in contact with it. What another inquiry, the Investigation of Aeronautic Accidents (IAA) is checking is why the Legacy apparatus was turned off. The TAB does not understand how the pilots flew so long without noting that they were without radio.

2 comments:

Germano said...

You know Joe, your demeaning attitude is very frustrating for those brazilians who have accompanied your blog, even supported you in many domestic dilations about the facts and interpretations and all the mess following the air accident(s).
For, even if Santos-Dumont's father was french, even if the family moved to France was he was eighteen, he got most of his education at brazilian schools and from the Escola de Minas in Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, an engeneering school founded in 1876.

And blah blah blah... Why I still bother?

Tenney Naumer said...

Good Lord! I could say that I have never seen such garbage as the last article in this post, but the garbage-verbage continues to flow out of the Brazilian media. If the statement is true (which I doubt, but let us just suppose that it is) that the Brazilian ATCs advised the Legacy pilot that it was flying under "radar surveillance" and not "radar vectoring," then it was the certain obligation and responsibility of the ATCs to separate the Legacy by another 1000 feet in altitude from planes known to be flying in the area, and thus the accident would not have occurred, i.e., under vectoring the planes are separated by 1000 feet, but under surveillance the separation must be 2000 feet. Thus, either the Legacy or the Gol should have been ordered to a different altitude by ATC, as soon as they knew there was no vectoring.
It is always convenient the way the press here obscures the truth.