Embraer has confirmed that it has been told that a Legacy executive jet that it manufactured was involved in a collision that ended in the loss of the Gol Boeing 737-800 that crashed in Brazil yesterday. The Legacy is a corporate version of the ERJ-135.

In a statement issued this morning the company says: “Embraer was informed today of a mid-air collision involving a Legacy 600 aircraft which it manufactured, serial number 965, owned and operated by one of its clients.

“According to unconfirmed reports, the collision occurred in the Serra do Cachimbo region, in the State of Pará, Northern Brazil. Following the collision, the Legacy 600 landed at the Cachimbo Air Force Base, with no injuries on board.

“Embraer has offered to cooperate with aeronautical authorities in any way possible in the investigations of the cause of this accident. To that end, a team of company technicians is preparing to leave for the region.”

Initial indications are that the 737 is PR-GTD, although that is not officially confirmed. If correct, the aircraft had only just been delivered.

The wreckage “was located 30km (19 miles) east of the township of Peixoto de Azvedo, in the [Brazilian] state of Mato Grosso”, says Gol in a statement.

None of the 149 passengers and six crew have been confirmed as survivors, it says.

Mato Grosso, which literally means “thick jungle”, is located in the western part of the country.

Operating as flight 1907, the 737 departed Manaus at 15:35 yesterday en route to Brasilia, but disappeared from radar at 17:00.

The aircraft was received new from Boeing on September 12 and had only 200 flight hours on it.

Source: FlightGlobal.com