PILOT SPIN
Spin Zone => Spin Zone => Topic started by: Rush on December 20, 2025, 10:05:44 AM
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This video got me interested in this incident:
https://x.com/OnDisasters/status/2002368845072183313
So I read up on it:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gol_Transportes_A%C3%A9reos_Flight_1907
TLDR: A midair over Brazil caused by Brazil’s clusterfuck of an ATC system causes the deaths of everyone of the 737 while the business jet landed safely if crippled. This happened in 2006. The 2 pilots of the business jet were put through the wringer being blamed for the crash and eventually sentenced to 4 years in prison. They are U.S. citizens and there was back and forth over them serving prison time in the U.S. or being extradited back to Brazil. In 2023 the U.S. refused to send them back and finally, in June, 2024, the case was dismissed because statute of limitations had expired.
Imagine being put through legal HELL for 18 YEARS over a crash that was essentially unavoidable because you were on an IFR flight plan and ATC put you on a direct collision course with another plane and failed to tell you about the traffic.
The joint investigation with the NTSB (because it was a Boeing plane, etc.) and whatever passes for an NTSB in Brazil, resulted in two different conclusions. Our NTSB said, “Brazil’s fucked up, outdated, and dysfunctional ATC system is completely at fault,” whereas Brazil said, “Yeah but also it’s the pilot’s fault! They should have constantly checked to make sure the transponder was still on!” It had somehow inadvertently been switched off at some point.
Guys, if you’re flying along and you’ve set the transponder, do you make it point to verify it’s still on every 5 minutes? Just wondering.
So anyway here is my point: Why in HELL would ANY pilot fly anywhere overseas if you risk getting caught in this kind of whacked foreign “justice” system?
And my other point: I have a big problem with charging professionals criminally for mere fuck ups. Not talking about deliberate malicious acts leading to disaster but fuck ups because we are all human, even if they result in disaster. In some countries if you’re an engineer for example, and a bridge you designed failed, you can be held criminally liable and imprisoned.
Let’s say you specced out an inferior material. Let’s say you simply miscalculated the design specifications. A big mistake but a human one. You should not risk prison over it. Get fired maybe. Get your license revoked, sure.
Now let’s say you specced that material because the seller gave you money under the table to do so. YES! Prison! You KNEW you were putting lives at risk. This is the big difference.
But if you hold professionals criminally liable for human mistakes and just being fucking stupid or incompetent, you will discourage people from these jobs. Maybe even discourage the smarter ones, just increasing risk to the public. Or lower the bar for who gets hired because there’s just fewer of them.
Am I completely off base here?
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No.
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Well my bridge example isn’t pertinent because these pilots didn’t even do anything stupid or incompetent. Their alleged crime is not having been mind readers, or triple checking everything beyond what a reasonable pilot would be expected to do.
This stinks of the need in some cultures to scapegoat. On top of what they did to the pilots, they fired the Defense Minister, who is in charge of the system which is controlled by their Air Force, even though he’d only had the job for a few months and the system had been in place for decades.
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I’ve done a fair amount of international flying. And yes I flew in countries where a mishap with the airplane would have resulted in prison time for the crew.
The US has the premier ATC system of the world, hands down. Many places have ATC, but it’s entirely up to the crew to avoid traffic and terrain.
Not for the faint of heart, and definitely not for the incompetent.