Brazil judge convicts two US pilots but suspends prison

May 17, 2011 at 2:44 pm | Posted in Aviation Law Current Event | Leave a comment

by Sara M. Langston with the blog faculty

Source: Associated Press

SAO PAULO – A Brazilian federal judge has convicted two American pilots for their role in an airline crash that killed 154 people, but ordered them to perform more than four years of community service in the U.S. instead of going to prison.

Federal Judge Murilo Mendes said in his ruling that pilots Joseph Lepore of Bay Shore, New York, and Jan Paladino of Westhampton Beach, New York, were negligent for not verifying that anti-collision equipment and a device that would have alerted controllers to their location were functioning in the Embraer Legacy 600 executive jet they were flying. They have both denied that accusation. [Full story]