LI pilots supported by data

The cockpit voice recorder from the private jet flown by two Long Island pilots involved in Brazil's worst aviation disaster confirms their contention that air traffic controllers cleared them to fly at the altitude of the fatal collision.

But the 290-page transcript of the recording prepared by the National Transportation Safety Board and obtained by a Brazilian newspaper show communication and language problems between the pilots and controllers. It also reveals the pilots were unfamiliar with Brazilian airspace, international aviation procedures and equipment on the new jet making its maiden flight.

The transcript reinforces earlier reports from Brazil that miscommunication between Joseph Lepore, 42, of Bay Shore and Jan Paladino, 34, of Westhampton Beach, and the Brazilian controllers may have contributed to the accident which brought down a commercial airliner.

Reports from Brazil in recent months have pointed increasingly at controller error as the leading likely cause of the accident involving the Legacy business jet owned by ExcelAire of Ronkonkoma and a Boeing 737 operated by Gol airlines on Sept. 29 that killed 154 people.

The two jets clipped wings at 37,000 feet over the Amazon rain forest and the Gol plane crashed, killing everyone on board. Lepore and Paladino have contended since the crash that they were cleared by controllers to make the entire flight to Manaus at 37,000 feet even though their flight plan prepared before takeoff showed two changes in altitude en route. The takeoff clearance takes precedence over a flight plan under international regulations.

According to the transcript, obtained by Folha de S. Paulo, the control

tower in Sao Jose dos Campos authorized the Legacy before takeoff to fly at 37,000 feet and made no mention of the other altitudes from the original flight plan.

The transcript shows the tower told the plane it had "clearance to Eduardo Gomes [the Manaus airport], flight level 370 ... "

The ExcelAire pilots had trouble understanding the English spoken by the Brazilian controllers and, apparently unsure of what they heard, asked three times for clarification without getting a satisfactory response.

The transcript also shows that controllers in Brasilia, where the original flight plan called for the first change in altitude, mistakenly believed that the Legacy was flying at 36,000 feet.

The recording appears to corroborate the findings of a preliminary report in November by the Brazilian Air Force, which said the Legacy's location transponder and collision avoidance system were not operating at the time of impact, so the devices were not functioning properly or had been turned off.

The pilots have denied turning off the systems and said they had no indication they were not working until after the collision, which is confirmed by the transcript.

The recordings also support the contention by Lepore and Paladino that they never saw the Boeing on their radar screen or had any other indication of the pending accident. At the time of impact, one of the pilots said: "What the hell was that?"

A spokesman for the Brazilian Air Force, which is leading the investigation, would not confirm or deny the content of the transcript. He insisted, however, that the document was not leaked by the Air Force and complained that its publication could hamper the investigation, which is expected to take at least another six months. ExcelAire had no comment.

The pilots were arrested in Brazil and formally charged with exposing an aircraft to danger before their passports were returned in December and they were allowed to leave the country after 71 days.

Last month Brazilian officials said the controllers could face up to 12 years in prison on homicide charges because they failed to divert the Boeing after the Legacy disappeared from the radar.

COCKPIT CONVERSATION IN BRAZIL CRASH

The pilots are identified as Hot 1 and Hot 2. Hot 4 and CAM are other unidentified people in the cabin. The times are U.S. Eastern Standard Time.

Problems with radio and understanding Brazil airspace

18:51:20.6

Hot 2: I don't know what TX 35 means ... TN 25. I need to learn this -- international --.

19:53:54.4

Hot 2: I didn't get the last 2.

19:55:47.7

Hot 2: I have a radio problem here.

Collision with Boeing

19:56:54.0

(Impact sound)

19:56:56.1

Hot 1: What the hell was that?

Hot 2: It's OK, just fly the plane, man.

CAM: Metallic sound 3 times

Hot 2: Just fly the plane.

19:57:34.7

CAM: We lost the winglet.

Hot 1: Did we? Where the - - did it come from?

Hot 2: It's all right, we are descending. Declaring emergency. ...

Hot 2: Trying to contact these --. They are not gonna answer the radio.

Hot 2: It's all right. Just pay attention to traffic. We'll make it, we'll make it, we'll make it. I know it.

The emergency landing

20:10:29.9

Hot 2: I don't know if we hit someone.

Hot 1: We hit something, man. We hit another plane.

20:22:59

(Landing at military air base)

Hot 1: Good job, good job. Good, we're good.

Hot 2: --. We're alive. -- (laughter).

Hot 1: I don't know what the hell. If we hit a plane, there is another plane with problems up there.

Hot 2: And then if we hit someone. I mean, we were in the appropriate altitude.

Hot 4: At no time did we receive clearance to leave the altitude. So I stayed at the altitude.