|
A part of the jetliner is seen about 1,090 miles northwest of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
POSTED: 12:15 a.m. EDT, October 2, 2006
BRASILIA, Brazil -- Flight recorders from a Brazilian
corporate jet confirm reports of a mid-air collision with a larger
airliner that crashed Friday in the Amazon jungle, killing all 155
aboard, authorities said.
An initial review of the voice and
flight-data recorders from the Embraer Legacy 600 back up the pilot's
account that another aircraft clipped his plane, said Denise Abreu,
director of Brazil's National Civil Aviation Agency.
The 16-seat
jet made an emergency landing after the collision, with a wingtip
missing. The other aircraft -- a Gol Airlines Boeing 737 -- crashed
into the remote Brazilian jungle.
Searchers who found the
wreckage on Saturday reported finding no survivors among the 149
passengers and six crew members on board, said Brig. Jose Carlos
Pereira.
Pilots spotted pieces of the downed jetliner after a
grueling overnight search, nearly 20 miles (30 kilometers) from the
city of Peixoto de Azevedo, Gol Airlines said.
The report of the flight recorders came as Brazil's air force confirmed no survivors from the Gol jetliner.
The
Brazilian air force said in a statement that rescue workers had combed
through the wreckage and found no signs that anyone could have survived
the crash, according to reports from The Associated Press. Rescue
workers had recovered two bodies by Sunday night and airlifted them out
by helicopter, the AP reported.
The death toll surpassed that of
Brazil's previous worst air disaster: the 1982 crash of a Boeing 727
operated by the now-defunct Vasp airline in the northeastern city of
Fortaleza that killed 137 people.
Globo news agency said Sunday
that police questioned the seven passengers and crew aboard the
executive jet, which had been headed to the United States. The
passengers, all Americans, included Joe Sharkey, a journalist for The
New York Times.
The seven said they felt a bump, the plane shook and the pilot took manual control for the landing, Globo reported.
The
New York Times reported that Sharkey sent an e-mail to his wife saying:
"Neither of the pilots can understand how a 737 could have hit us
without them seeing it."
Authorities have not given a definitive
cause for the crash, and the investigation was continuing. Officials
have said the investigation could take at least three months.
Earlier, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva declared three days of official morning.
"Brazil is suffering with this," Silva said in a statement.
The flight data recorders of the 737 had not yet been recovered, the AP reported.
Journalist Tom Hennigan contributed to this report.
Copyright 2006 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
|