An amazing tale

[The Commish]

NYT columnist writes about being on the corporate jet that survived a mid-air collision over Brazil with a 737 that went down.

Led Zeppelin was unavailable for comment.

 

[Angola!]

NYT columnist writes about being on the corporate jet that survived a mid-air collision over Brazil with a 737 that went down.

Led Zeppelin was unavailable for comment.

A very amazing story. The seven people on the small plane will probably spend the rest of their lives wondering why they lived and the others didn't. I do wonder though why the pilots on the small plane didn't see the 737 coming at them, or was it coming from behind? Maybe we will find out when the investigation is complete.

 

[Shaggy]

Amazing read. Thanks for finding that.

 

[Bill Horton]

I thought this thread was going to be all about Jennifer Lopez's ass.

 

[farmerjerome]

Wow. Thank god for the Brazilian pilot. It's too bad that he couldn't do anything for his own passengers.

RIP.

 

[slappy4428]

Fascinating story... Ms. Slappy saw it yesterday and told me an NYT columnist was on the plane/...

 

[novelist_wannabe]

This thread is useless .... oh, TALE. Carry on ...

 

[Songbird]

Before I continue reading ... I love LOVE that the NYT has the same philosphy as me about numbers: write numbers, don't spell them.

The 7 of us on board the 13-passenger jet ...

Yes, I know, the AP rule is to spell numbers zero to nine. But I disagree with every fiber of my being. About 6-7 years ago I began to write numbers in my stories. Then I read Buster Olney's NYT pieces for the first time and loved that he was doing the same thing. For example: John Googleshtump has a streak of 3 games in which he's scored 4 runs.

I just believe that a sentence reads better when words are spelled and numbers stay numbers.

Anyway.

 

[FreddiePatek]

NYT columnist writes about being on the corporate jet that survived a mid-air collision over Brazil with a 737 that went down.

Led Zeppelin was unavailable for comment.

A very amazing story. The seven people on the small plane will probably spend the rest of their lives wondering why they lived and the others didn't. I do wonder though why the pilots on the small plane didn't see the 737 coming at them, or was it coming from behind? Maybe we will find out when the investigation is complete.

The passenger plane was slightly under the business jet. When the Brazilian pilot evaded, one wing clipped the business jet's wing, then tail. With the sun setting, the passenger plane or the business jet would have been virtually invisible, depending on which one was flying east.

 

[Columbo]

NYT columnist writes about being on the corporate jet that survived a mid-air collision over Brazil with a 737 that went down.

Led Zeppelin was unavailable for comment.

A very amazing story. The seven people on the small plane will probably spend the rest of their lives wondering why they lived and the others didn't. I do wonder though why the pilots on the small plane didn't see the 737 coming at them, or was it coming from behind? Maybe we will find out when the investigation is complete.

The passenger plane was slightly under the business jet. When the Brazilian pilot evaded, one wing clipped the business jet's wing, then tail. With the sun setting, the passenger plane or the business jet would have been virtually invisible, depending on which one was flying east.

I would love to see a computer simulation of what happened..... It's hard for me to picture.

 

[beefncheddar]

According to Daily News story that just moved on the wire:

Tuesday, both Lepore and Paladino (the pilots) had their passports seized by federal police “as a result of the doubts surrounding the case and the emergence of indications that the accident was caused by the Legacy,” Mato Grosso Justice Department spokeswoman Maria Barbant told The Associated Press.
She added that they were not arrested, “just prevented from leaving the country, at least until we know exactly what happened.”
Sharkey said he feared the pilots could be scapegoated.

 

[MertWindu]

NYT columnist writes about being on the corporate jet that survived a mid-air collision over Brazil with a 737 that went down.

Led Zeppelin was unavailable for comment.

A very amazing story. The seven people on the small plane will probably spend the rest of their lives wondering why they lived and the others didn't. I do wonder though why the pilots on the small plane didn't see the 737 coming at them, or was it coming from behind? Maybe we will find out when the investigation is complete.

The passenger plane was slightly under the business jet. When the Brazilian pilot evaded, one wing clipped the business jet's wing, then tail. With the sun setting, the passenger plane or the business jet would have been virtually invisible, depending on which one was flying east.

NYT story says the 737 was heading southeast, while the Commuter Jet was headed northwest. Just an incredible concept, to think that it's even possible.

 

[Del_B_Vista]

That's bizarre, but I've personally felt the failure of the needle-in-the-haystack theory of accident avoidance.

One of them had to be at the wrong altitude, though. Can't remember from my ground school many 100s of years ago, but going one way you're supposed to be at even altitudes (36,000 feet; 38,000 feet) and the other at odd altitudes.

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

That's bizarre, but I've personally felt the failure of the needle-in-the-haystack theory of accident avoidance.

One of them had to be at the wrong altitude, though. Can't remember from my ground school many 100s of years ago, but going one way you're supposed to be at even altitudes (36,000 feet; 38,000 feet) and the other at odd altitudes.

I took an aviation class in college, and I remember the prof saying that. He also said that larger jets tend to fly higher unless making a final descent, so I wonder if maybe the corporate jet was flying too high or, as you said, flying at the wrong even-odd altitude.

 

[OTD]

That's bizarre, but I've personally felt the failure of the needle-in-the-haystack theory of accident avoidance.

One of them had to be at the wrong altitude, though. Can't remember from my ground school many 100s of years ago, but going one way you're supposed to be at even altitudes (36,000 feet; 38,000 feet) and the other at odd altitudes.

I think I read it was neodd (north and east odd) and sweven (south and west even). There's my bit of trivia for the night.

 

[Oz]

NYT columnist writes about being on the corporate jet that survived a mid-air collision over Brazil with a 737 that went down.

Unreal. Last week I read the news story that mentioned that a NYT columnist was aboard the smaller plane, so I've been on the lookout for this piece. It floors me that they never saw each other, never knew the other plane was there.

 

[FreddiePatek]

This info may have been in the other stories, but ... doesn't sound good for those pilots:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/10/04/brazil.crash.ap/index.html

 

[markvid]

What can you do, though?
It's not like it was done intentionally even if they did cause it.
Very tragic accident, nothing more.

 

[leo1]

What can you do, though?
It's not like it was done intentionally even if they did cause it.
Very tragic accident, nothing more.

well if they were at the wrong altitude - which trained investigators will try to determine - then their negligence or incompetence may have caused the death of everyone in the other plan. i'm not saying that's what happened, but that's the theory.

as for the NYT piece, that was a great read. on one level though it makes me think of the randomness of life itself. every day people die from freak accidents in which they did nothing wrong but were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. you just hope and pray it never happens to your family.

 

[Montezuma's Revenge]

Well, if they ignored an order to change altitudes, there would seem to be some culpability.

EDIT: Leo beat me to the point.