Safety

Brazilian lawyers charged with defending the Embraer Legacy crew after the collision with a Gol Boeing 737-800 last September have given the federal police a report alleging Brazil's air traffic control system is primarily responsible.

Moreover, the attorneys accuse Embraer and Honeywell of contributing to the cause, alleging the Legacy experienced radio management unit and flight management system anomalies during the aircraft's post-production flights.

Meanwhile, say the lawyers, controllers had to deal with intermittent transponder information reducing their radar surveillance of the Legacy to a primary return much of the time, and also with intermittent voice communication.

The Legacy had entered airway UZ6 at 37,000ft (11,300m) - the same height as that of the Gol 737 on the reciprocal track, but the lawyers say that after an ATC shift change the new controller's electronic flight strip containing the Legacy's details recorded the aircraft as having been assigned 36,000ft for that leg as per its original flight plan.