Clash over Mato Grosso

Boeing 737

Boeing 737-8EH (registration number PR-GTD, serial number 34653, serial 2039) was released in 2006 (the first flight was made on August 22 under test b / n N1786B). September 11 of the same year was transferred to the Brazilian airline Gol Transportes Aéreos for use on medium-haul flights and with greater passenger capacity . It is equipped with two CFM International 56-7B26 twin - circuit turbofan engines . On the day of the disaster, it made 162 take-off and landing cycles and flew for 202 hours ^{[7] [8] [9] [10]} .

The aircraft was controlled by an experienced crew, the composition of which was as follows:

• The aircraft commander (FAC) is 44-year-old Desiu Chaves Jr. ( port. Decio Chaves, Jr. ). A very experienced pilot, he worked at Gol Transportes Aéreos for 27 years (since 1979), and was also a pilot instructor in Boeing 737 aircraft. He flew 15,498 hours, 13,521 of which were on Boeing 737.
• The co - pilot is 29-year-old Tiago Jordan Cruso ( port of Thiago Jordão Cruso ). An experienced pilot, he worked at Gol Transportes Aéreos for 7 years (since 1999). 3981 hours flew, 3081 of them on the Boeing 737.

Four flight attendants worked in the cabin.

In total, there were 154 people on board — 148 passengers and 6 crew members ^[11] .

Embraer Legacy 600

The Embraer EMB-135BJ Legacy 600 (serial number N600XL, serial number 14500, serial 965) was issued by Embraer for ExcelAire Service Inc. ( New York ) in September 2006 (under test b / n PT-SFN). September 28 of the same year was acquired by the charter airline ExcelAire . Equipped with two twin-circuit turbojet engines Allison AE3007A1P . On the day of the disaster, he made 11 take-off and landing cycles and flew for 19 hours ^{[12] [13]} .

The crew of the N600XL consisted of two pilots:

• The aircraft commander (FAC) is 42-year-old Joseph Lepore. He worked as a commercial pilot for over 20 years. I flew 9388 hours, 5 hours 35 minutes of them on the Embraer Legacy 600.
• The co-pilot is 34-year-old Jean-Paul Paladino ( French: Jean-Paul Paladino ). As a second pilot, he flew the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 (MD-82 and MD-83) and Boeing 737-800 aircraft, flying between the United States and Canada . He has been a commercial pilot for 10 years. Flown over 6400 hours (317 of them as Embraer ERJ 145 PICs of American Eagle Airlines ), 3 hours 30 minutes of them on Embraer Legacy 600 ^{[14] [15]} .

Both pilots had experience managing this aircraft as a commander.

Prior Circumstances

Flight GLO 1907 departed from Manaus at 15:35 BRST and headed for Rio de Janeiro ^[1] .

The N600XL took off from the São José dos Campos Airport near São Paulo at 14:51 BRST and was supposed to land at Manaus Airport , which was a planned stopover to the United States.

On board were 5 passengers - 2 Embraer employees, 2 ExcelAire executives and The New York Times correspondent Joe Sharkey , who wrote a special report on business travel ^{[16] [17] [ 18]} .

Collision

At 16:57 BRST, flight GLO 1907 and board N600XL collided with left-wing planes in opposite directions at FL370 (11,278 meters) approximately halfway between Brasilia and Manaus, near the town of Matupa, 750 kilometers southeast of Manaus ^{[20 ] [21] [22]} .

As a result of the collision, flight GLO 1907 lost almost half of its left wing. This led to uncontrolled rotation, which entailed the complete destruction of the aircraft in the air and a fall in a wooded area 200 kilometers east of the municipality of Peixoto di Azevedo ^[23] . All 154 people on board died, the plane completely collapsed, and its wreckage was scattered at a great distance from the crash site.

The N600XL, despite the loss of part of the left wing, was able to continue the flight, although the autopilot turned off and considerable effort was required by the pilots to keep the plane from spontaneous roll to the left.

PO71 flight Polar Air Cargo ( Boeing 747-46NF aboard N453PA), located in the same area, relayed messages from the N600XL crew, and with its help the damaged plane landed safely at the airport of Sberra di Caccimba, which is part of Campo de Pruvash Brigadeiro Velos, Brazil’s largest military base, located about 160 kilometers from the scene of the collision.

Passenger and journalist Joe Sharkey described his impressions of flying aboard the N600XL in an article for The New York Times entitled Colliding With Death at 37,000 Feet, and Living , published October 1, 2006 ^[14] :

It was a good flight, a few minutes before the collision I went into the cockpit to talk with the pilots and told them that the plane was flying beautifully. I saw the readings of instruments that showed our height: 37,000 feet . I returned to my place. In a few minutes, trouble began (part of the wing of the plane was cut off, as we later learned) .

Search and Rescue Operation

After the GLO 1907 flight disappeared from the radar, the Brazilian Air Force organized a search and rescue operation and sent five planes and three helicopters to the crash site. The search and rescue operation involved more than 200 people, among whom was a group of residents who were well acquainted with the surroundings of the local jungle. The wreckage of the airliner was seen in an impenetrable forest area, which complicated the search for surviving passengers. Initially, the administration of Infraero announced that 5 people survived the crash, but subsequently the Brazilian Air Force denied this information.

Flight recorders were found on October 2, 2006 and handed over to the Canadian TSBC bureau for decryption. On October 25, after 4 weeks of intensive searches with the help of metal detectors, it was possible to find an almost intact memory card for the voice recorder, which was also transferred for decoding to Canada.

On October 4, 2006, the found remains of the bodies of the victims of the disaster were sent for identification by relatives. The rescue team worked at the crash site for about 7 weeks, exploring the jungle in search of the remains of passengers and the wreckage of the aircraft. On November 22, 2006, using the DNA analysis, the identity of the last dead person was identified ^[24] .

N600XL flight crew arrest

Immediately after an emergency landing at Sierra di Caccimba Airport, Brazilian Air Force and Brazilian Civil Aviation Authority officials detained and interrogated the N600XL crew. Officials also seized both Embraer flight recorders and sent them to São José dos Campos (São Paulo), and from there to Ottawa (Canada) for decryption.

At the beginning of the investigation, the Embraer crew claimed that at the time of the collision they were on the FL370 echelon, which they were allowed to occupy by ATC . Also, the pilots noted that before the collision, they lost contact with the dispatcher, and the TCAS system did not give any signals.

Both pilots of the N600XL stayed in Brazil until December 5, 2006, after which a federal judge allowed the pilots to return to the United States before the scheduled trial date. Pilots signed documents obliging them to return to Brazil when required by the Brazilian authorities, received passports back and returned to the United States ^{[25] [26]} .

The Brazilian National Aviation Incident Investigation Committee (CENIPA) and the US National Transportation Security Council (NTSB) investigated the causes of the collision over Mato Grosso.

After the flight recorders were received and decoded, investigators interrogated the crew of Embraer and air traffic controllers to compare the facts and determine the causes of the aircraft crash. During interrogation, pilots of the N600XL claimed that the FL370 echelon at which the collision occurred was allowed to occupy ATC services. Listening to the radio recording of negotiations between the N600XL crew and air traffic controllers confirmed that the pilots accurately followed all the instructions of the air traffic services and did not perform unplanned maneuvers. But before the collision at Embraer, TCAS did not work for unknown reasons.

The flight GLO 1907 before the collision was on the FL370 echelon, which its pilots were also allowed to occupy with the air traffic services and air traffic controllers made no attempt to warn them of a second approaching aircraft ^[27] .

Final Investigation Reports

The final investigation reports by CENIPA and NTSB were published on December 10, 2008, more than 2 years after the disaster.

The reports indicated the main reasons and additional circumstances that led to the collision of the aircraft:

• The CENIPA report indicated that a series of errors by air traffic controllers and pilots of the N600XL, which may have flown with the transponder off, led to the crash. A warning about the second aircraft approaching could prevent a catastrophe. It was also noted that a few minutes before the collision, the control center tried to contact the pilots of the N600XL, but to no avail. The N600XL board mark disappeared for a short time from the radar screens and the controllers could not trace the route of the private airliner before the collision and take the necessary measures.
• The NTSB report did not partially match the CENIPA investigation. Representatives of the NTSB Investigation Commission did not agree with Brazilian experts that the crew of the N600XL made serious mistakes that led to the disaster. According to the report, the culprit of the accident are air traffic control services, which allowed the liners to follow on the same level. Inadequate air traffic control and other “ individual and institutional errors in air traffic control ” led to airplanes equipped with modern Honeywell automation systems ^[28] .

Embraer EMB-135BJ Legacy 600 board N600XL was deposited at the airport of Sierra di Caccimba, but on May 6, 2010 was purchased by Cloudscape Inc., changed its tail number to N965LL, was successfully repaired and transferred to Manaus, and from October 29, 2010 years began to be operated.

On January 23, 2013 it was bought by the charter airline FlyMex , in which it received the XA-MHA w / o and flies in it to this day.

Clash over Mato Grosso is featured in season 5 of the Canadian documentary series Crash Investigation in the Radio Silence series.

• On January 9, 1971, American Airlines Boeing 707-323C (flight AA30) and a training Cessna 150 collided over Edison . After the collision, the Cessna crashed, and the Boeing, having received damage to the left wing, landed safely at its destination .
• On November 12, 1996, Boeing-747-168B Saudi Arabian Airlines (flight SVA763) and Il-76TD Kazakhstan Airlines (flight KZA1907) collided over the Indian city of Charkhi Dadri . Both planes flew along the same paths as the N600XL and GLO 1907.

• Description of the GLO 1907 Flight Disaster on Aviation Safety Network
• Description of the incident with the N600XL on the Aviation Safety Network
• Aeronautical Accidents Investigation and Prevention Center
  • Final report ( Archive )
  • Final report (port.) ( Archive )
• Associação Familiares e Amigos Vôo 1907 (Family and friends of Flight 1907) (Port)
• Cachimbo Air Base from Google Maps
• Cachimbo Air Base Web Site
• Statement by the International Federation Of Air Traffic Controllers' Associations, issued November 24, 2006 (PDF)
• ExcelAire N600XL Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) audio clip , 72 MB MP3 file, contains entire 2-hour CVR recording; last two-way radio comm before collision at 00:17:55; last radio comm before collision at 1:12:30; collision at 01:23:50.
• Gol Transportes Aéreos 1907 Cockpit Voice Recorder audio clip (Port)
• Air crash investigations - Radio silence