Recorders support midair collision

A part of the jetliner is seen about 1,090 miles northwest of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

ImagePOSTED: 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.
 

 
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