Air controller convicted for fatal collision

A BRAZILIAN military court has convicted an air traffic controller for his role in the 2006 collision of a Brazilian airliner and a business jet that killed 154 people.

A Boeing 737 operated by Gol Lineas Aereas Intelligentes collided with an Embraer Legacy 600 executive jet and crashed into the Amazon jungle, killing everyone aboard. The Legacy, piloted by two American citizens, landed safely.

Air force Sergeant Jomarcelo Fernandes dos Santos was sentenced to 14 months in jail for failing to take action when he saw the Legacy's anti-collision system had been turned off, Agencia Brasil said. Four other controllers were acquitted for lack of proof, it said.

The five were tried by a military court because air controllers are in the Brazilian air force.

Santos's lawyer, Roberto Sobral, said he would appeal the conviction.

"The conviction is unacceptable," Mr Sobral said. "He does not speak English and was obliged to co-ordinate a flight involving foreign pilots."

Joel Weiss, attorney for the two American pilots, said: "If one wanted to pinpoint the causes of the accident they would be the shortcomings of Brazil's air control system.

"But Santos was the individual who failed to recognise there was no transponder signal and primarily failed to recognise he had two flights in front of him on a collision course."