Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907 Totally Explained

Everything about Gol Transportes A Reos Flight 1907 totally explained

Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907 was a Boeing 737-800 SFP, registration PR-GTD, on a scheduled passenger flight from Manaus, Brazil to Rio de Janeiro, which collided in mid-air with an Embraer Legacy business jet on September 29, 2006 over the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. All 154 passengers and crew aboard the Boeing 737 were killed as the aircraft crashed into an area of dense rainforest, while the slightly damaged Embraer Legacy landed safely with its seven occupants uninjured.
The accident was the deadliest in Brazil's aviation history at the time, surpassing VASP Flight 168, which crashed in 1982 with 137 fatalities near Fortaleza. It was subsequently surpassed by TAM Airlines Flight 3054, which crashed on July 17, 2007 with more than 190 fatalities. This accident also triggered a major crisis in Brazilian civil aviation.

Boeing aircraft and crew

The Gol Transportes Aéreos Boeing 737-8EH aircraft, a new Short Field Performance variant, had been delivered to Gol on September 12, 2006 — 17 days and 234 hours of operation prior to the accident flight. Gol flight 1907 departed the Eduardo Gomes International Airport in Manaus on September 29, 2006, at 15:35 BST (Brazil Standard Time), with a planned intermediate stop at Brasília International Airport, enroute to Rio de Janeiro-Galeão International Airport. The crew consisted of Captain Decio Chaves Jr., 44, First Officer Thiago Jordão Cruso, 29, as well as four flight attendants. The captain had 14,900 flight hours (3,900 of them on 737 Next Generation [737-NG] series aircraft), and also served as a flight instructor for Gol. The first officer had 3,850 flight hours.

Embraer aircraft and crew

The newly built Embraer Legacy 600 business jet, serial number 14500965 and registration N600XL, owned and operated by ExcelAire Service Inc.

, a Ronkonkoma, New York-based company, was on a delivery flight from the Embraer factory to the U.S.. It departed from São José dos Campos Regional Airport (SJK), near São Paulo, at 14:51 BST, and was on its way to Eduardo Gomes International Airport (MAO) in Manaus as a planned enroute stop. The flight crew consisted of Captain Joseph Lepore, 42, and First Officer Jan Paul Paladino, 34, both U.S. citizens. The Italian-born Captain Lepore had been a commercial pilot for more than 20 years, and had logged more than 8,000 flight hours. First Officer Paladino had been a commercial pilot for a decade, and had accumulated more than 6,400 flight hours. Both pilots were legally qualified to fly the Embraer Legacy as captain.
The five passengers consisted of two Embraer employees, two ExcelAire executives, and The New York Times business travel columnist Joe Sharkey, who was writing a special report for a magazine specializing in corporate jets.

Collision

Just before 17:00 BST, the Boeing airliner and the Embraer business jet collided in mid-air, approximately midway between Brasilia and Manaus, near the town of Matupá (470 miles south of Manaus).
   The Boeing suffered major structural damage, leading to an in-flight breakup and impact with an area of dense rainforest vegetation, 200 kilometers (120 miles) east of the municipality of Peixoto de Azevedo, killing all 154 passengers and crew on board. The wreckage of the aircraft was scattered in pieces around the crash site.
   The Embraer jet, despite sustaining some damage to the left horizontal stabilizer and left winglet, landed safely at the Brigadeiro Velloso Brazilian Air Force (BAF) Cachimbo air base. There were reports that air traffic control (ATC) lost contact (both radio and secondary radar) with the Embraer shortly before the collision.
   Embraer passenger/journalist Joe Sharkey reported in a The New York Times article titled "Colliding With Death at 37,000 Feet, and Living", The officials also removed the two "black boxes" — Cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and Flight data recorder (FDR) — from the Embraer, and sent them to São José dos Campos, São Paulo for analysis. was granted by judge Tiago Sousa Nogueira e Abreu, who stated that the possibility of pilot error on the part of the Embraer crew couldn't yet be ruled out.
   The Embraer crew were forced to remain in Brazil until their passports were released to them on December 5, 2006, more than two months after the accident, after federal judge Candido Ribeiro ruled there were no legal grounds for "restricting the freedom of motion of the foreigners".
Prior to their scheduled departure to the United States, the crew were formally charged by Brazilian Federal Police with "endangering an aircraft", a charge that carries a penalty of up to 12 years in prison. Former Justice Minister Jose Carlos Dias, who is acting as a lawyer for the Embraer's crew, criticized the charges against them as being "biased" and "discriminatory". The two pilots were allowed to leave the country after signing a document promising to return to Brazil for their trial or when required by Brazilian authorities. They picked up their passports and were taken to Guarulhos International Airport for a charter flight back to the United States, where they arrived on December 9, 2006.

Search and recovery operation

Brazilian Air Force (BAF) sent five fixed wing aircraft and three helicopters to the region, one of which equipped with a magnetic anomaly detector, for an extensive search and rescue operation. As many as 200 personnel were reported to be involved in the operation, among them a group of Kayapo people familiar with the forest. The crash site of Gol Flight 1907 was spotted on 30 September by BAF authorities, at coordinates, 200 km (120 miles) east of Peixoto de Azevedo in the Jarinã farm area. It was reported that rescue personnel had difficulty reaching the crash site due to the dense forest. Infraero at first indicated the possibility of five survivors, but a later statement from the BAF, based on data collected by BAF personnel who rappelled (abseiled) to the crash site and local authorities confirmed that there were no survivors. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva declared three days of national mourning.
   The flight data recorder and a non-data part of the cockpit voice recorder from the Boeing 737 were found on October 2, 2006 and handed over to the investigators, who sent them to the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) for analysis. On October 25, 2006, after almost four weeks of intensive searching under harsh conditions in the jungle by numerous personnel equipped with metal detectors, the Boeing's cockpit voice recorder's memory module was finally found. The module was discovered intact, separated from other wreckage pieces, embedded in about 20 centimetres of soil, and was also sent for analysis by the TSB in Canada.
   On October 4, the recovery crews began moving the bodies to the temporary base established at the nearby Jarinã farm. The BAF deployed a C-115 Buffalo aircraft to transport the bodies to Brasília for identification.
   The recovery teams spent nearly seven weeks, working intensively in an extremely harsh jungle environment, painstakingly searching for and identifying the victims' remains. The final victim was recovered and identified by DNA testing on November 22, 2006.

Initial investigation

On October 9 2006, a facsimile copy of the Embraer's originally filed flight plan was released by the news media. The flight plan consisted of flying at FL370 up to Brasilia, on airway UW2, followed by a planned descent at Brasilia to FL360, proceeding outbound from Brasilia northwest-bound along airway UZ6 to the 'Teres' fix, an aeronautical waypoint located 282 nm (324 miles, 522 km) northwest of Brasilia, where a climb to FL380 was planned. According to the filed flight plan, the Embraer was to have been level at FL380, proceeding towards Manaus, while passing the eventual collision point, which was about 307 km northwest of Teres.
The Embraer's crew asserted in their depositions that they were cleared by air traffic control to FL370 for the entire trip, all the way to Manaus. This assertion appears to be consistent with ATC communication transcripts leaked to the press on November 3, 2006, which show that the initial pre-takeoff IFR clearance given to the Embraer was "N600XL, Clear, 370, Manaus".
The leaked ATC communication transcripts included another apparent opportunity for air traffic control to verify or modify the Embraer's altitude, as when it crossed Brasilia, the Embraer was handed off to another controller, where upon initial contact the Embraer stated "N600XL at 370, Good afternoon." The controller responded by asking the Embraer to activate the "Ident" function on the transponder, followed by the controller confirming the radar contact, without questioning the altitude, which was FL370.

Preliminary CENIPA factual report

A preliminary factual report was released by the Brazilian Aviation Accident Investigation and Prevention Center (Centro de Investigação e Prevenção de Acidentes Aeronáuticos, CENIPA) on November 16, 2006, and presented in a news conference by Col. Rufino Antonio da Silva Ferreira, head of CENIPA's Inquiry Division and president of its Flight 1907 Accident Investigation Commission. The Embraer overflew the Brasilia VOR at 15:55, 4 minutes later, and proceeded outbound on UZ6. At 16:02, 7 minutes after crossing the Brasilia VOR, secondary radar contact was lost with the Embraer, thus stopping the updated reporting of the Embraer's altitude on the controller's radar screen.
No attempt was made by either the Embraer or Brasilia Center to contact each other from 15:51 until 16:26 when, 31 minutes after the VOR crossing and 24 minutes after the loss of secondary radar contact, Brasilia Center called the Embraer and received no reply. Brasilia Center then unsuccessfully attempted to contact the Embraer six more times, between 16:30 and 16:34. At 16:30 the Embraer's primary radar target became intermittent, and disappeared completely from the radar screen by 16:38, 8 minutes later. Brasilia Center unsuccessfully attempted to effect a handoff of the Embraer to Amazonica Center at 16:53, on frequencies 123.32 MHz or 126.45 MHz, by calling the Embraer in the blind.
The Embraer, on the other hand, started calling Brasilia Center, also unsuccessfully, from 16:48 and continued with 12 more unsuccessful attempts until 16:53. Some limited contact was made at that point, but apparently of insufficient quality, as the Embraer was unable to copy the Amazonica Center frequencies. The Embraer then continued its attempts to reach Brasilia Center, seven more times, until the collision occurred at 16:56:54.
At 16:59:50, about 3 minutes after the collision, Amazonica Center started to receive the Embraer's secondary radar reply, with its correct altitude and last assigned code. At 17:00:30 Amazonica Center unsuccessfully attempted to contact the Embraer by radio. At 17:01:22 the Embraer attempted and was able to establish indirect contact with Amazonica Center, relayed via another aircraft on the frequency, and coordinated its emergency landing at Cachimbo air base. At 17:02:10 Amazonica Center received the Embraer transponder emergency code of 7700.

Gol 1907 flight and communication sequence

According to the report, Gol 1907 took off from Manaus at 15:35, flying along UZ6 and reaching FL370 at 15:58, 23 minutes later, where it remained until the collision. The report states that there were no radio or radar contact problems with the flight until its handoff to Brasilia Center. The report makes no mention of any attempt by ATC to warn flight 1907 of the conflicting traffic.

ATC and CVR transcripts

Neither the ATC communication transcripts, nor the CVR (cockpit voice recorder) transcripts are included in this preliminary report. Transcripts of the pre-takeoff clearances obtained and read back by the flight crews and/or any subsequent enroute clearances or instructions are also not included.
The flight recorder of PR-GTD stopped recording at 7,887 feet.

Updated NTSB report

On November 22, 2006, the U.S. NTSB issued an update of its own preliminary report, based on the Brazilian CENIPA report. The updated NTSB report includes essentially the same information as the CENIPA report, with a varying level of detail, with some differences. Like the CENIPA factual report, the NTSB report also doesn't include any actual ATC communication transcripts, nor a determination of the causes of the accident.

NTSB Safety Recommendation

On May 2, 2007 the NTSB issued a Safety Recommendation that included an interim summary of the current state of the investigation, as well as some immediate safety recommendations that the NTSB believes should be implemented by the U.S. FAA to enhance flight safety.
The NTSB reported that the Embraer's crew maintained a steady altitude and airspeed once in cruise, based on the Embraer's Flight Data Recorder (FDR):

Data from the FDR indicated that the Legacy crew didn't perform any abnormal maneuvers during the flight. FDR information indicates that the airplane was level at FL370, on course along airway UZ6, and at a steady speed until the collision with the Boeing 737 at a point about 460 nm north-northwest of BRS, on airway UZ6.

The NTSB also reported that the Embraer apparently experienced a TCAS outage, unbeknownst to its flight crew prior to the collision, according to the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR):

Preliminary findings in the ongoing investigation indicate that, for reasons yet to be determined, the collision avoidance system in the Legacy airplane wasn't functioning at the time of the accident, thereby disabling the system’s ability to detect and be detected by conflicting traffic. In addition, CVR data indicate that the flight crew was unaware that the collision avoidance system wasn't functioning until after the accident.

The NTSB added that the design of the Embraer's avionics is such that the non-functioning of the TCAS that apparently occurred is annunciated by a small static white text message, which may not be noticeable by the flight crew. The NTSB noted:

Using only static text messages to indicate a loss of collision avoidance system functionality isn't a reliable means to capture pilots’ attention because these visual warnings can be easily overlooked if pilots’ attention is directed elsewhere in the flight environment.

Based on its observations, the NTSB recommended to the FAA that design changes be implemented to improve the noticeability of TCAS annunciation, and that the FAA advise pilots of all aircraft to become more familiar with the details of this accident, potential loss of transponder and/or TCAS function, and how to recognize them.

Legal action

On November 6, 2006, the families of ten of the deceased filed a lawsuit for negligence against ExcelAire and Honeywell, alleging that the Embraer pilots were flying at an 'incorrect altitude' and that the Honeywell transponder wasn't functioning at the time of the collision. Other suits were subsequently filed on behalf of other victims, with similar allegations against Excelaire and Honeywell. The attorney representing the Embraer crew, Miami based Robert Torricella, responded to the allegation that the crew was flying at an 'incorrect altitude' by stating that according to international regulations, clearances and directives issued by ATC supersede a previously filed flight plan, and in this case:

"...the flight plan cleared by air traffic control at the time of departure required the Embraer to fly all the way to Manaus at 37,000 feet and, absent contrary directives from air traffic control, the Embraer was obligated to follow its cleared flight plan. As the findings of the investigation are made public, we're confident that ExcelAire's pilots will be exonerated."

A Honeywell spokesperson stated that "Honeywell isn't aware of any evidence that indicates that its transponder on the Embraer Legacy wasn't functioning as designed or that Honeywell was responsible for the accident."

Dramatization

Discovery Channel Brazil aired A Tragédia do Vôo 1907 ("The Tragedy of Flight 1907"), a documentary about the disaster. In 2007 some family members of the Gol 1907 victims stated that they believed that the documentary exhibited bias.

Further Information

Get more info on 'Gol Transportes A Reos Flight 1907'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://gol_transportes_a__reos_flight_1907.totallyexplained.com">Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907 Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.