Contact Information: For U.S. media information, contact: Lisa Hendrickson LCH Communications 516-767-8390 516-643-1642 (cell) Email Contact For Brazilian media, contact: Rosana Marques Burson-Marstellar (55. 11) 3094.2240 Email Contact
ExcelAire Calls Lawsuits Regarding Gol Jet Accident Premature
| Source: ExcelAire
RONKONKOMA, NY -- (MARKET WIRE) -- November 6, 2006 -- ExcelAire expresses its deepest sympathies
to the families that lost loved ones in the tragic accident of September
29, 2006 in Brazil.
Civil lawsuits filed or to be filed this week arising from that accident
are premature, given that the facts surrounding the accident have not yet
been fully investigated and established in a comprehensive accident
investigation, according to Robert Torricella, a Miami-based aviation
attorney representing the ExcelAire pilots.
"In the face of recent confirmations that air traffic control cleared and
directed the ExcelAire Legacy Jet to fly to Manaus at 37,000 feet,
repeated suggestions that ExcelAire's pilots were flying at the wrong
altitude are baseless," said Torricella. "According to international
aviation regulations and norms, air traffic control directives take
precedence over a written flight plan and those directives effectively
amend the written flight plan. It is the flight plan cleared by air
traffic control at the time of departure -- and not the prior written
flight plan -- that governs the conduct of the flight."
He added, "Here, the flight plan cleared by air traffic control at the time
of departure required the Legacy to fly all the way to Manaus at 37,000
feet and, absent contrary directives from air traffic control, the Legacy
was obligated to follow its cleared flight plan. As the findings of the
investigation are made public, we are confident that
ExcelAire's pilots will be exonerated."
ExcelAire, based in Ronkonkoma, NY, specializes in business jets and
aircraft management and has pledged its full cooperation in the
investigations currently underway in Brazil. The ExcelAire pilots have
been detained in Brazil for more than five weeks as authorities continue
the confiscation of their passports in connection with investigations that
the authorities have described as being paralyzed.