Court Denies Pilots’ Request To Go Home

A federal judge in Brazil said on Monday that the two U.S. pilots who were flying a Legacy jet involved in a midair collision in September still cannot leave the country. The pilots — Joe Lepore and Jan Paladino, both from New York — have been in seclusion in a hotel in Rio de Janeiro while the investigation continues into the accident, in which all 154 people on board a Gol Airlines 737 were killed. Reporter Joe Sharkey, who was a passenger on the Legacy jet, wrote in his blog that last week it seemed the pilots might be released, as the investigation’s focus appeared to be shifting to air traffic control. [more] Then rumors that the pilots had been flying “reckless aerial maneuvers” to show off the new jet resurfaced, and opinion once more turned against the pilots, Sharkey says. A preliminary report on the accident is due to be released today.