Speculative scenario for the Embraer Legacy / GOL 737 Mid-air Collision over Brazil
We received a powerpoint slideshow presenting a plausible scenario for the Embraer Legacy / GOL 737 mid-air collision which occured over Brazil on September 29th, 2006. The presentation is in Portuguese, but the key points are well illustrated. While the author is anonymous, the first slide claims that the source is a ‘credentialed’ (certified) by CENIPA the Center for the Investigation and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents which is part of the Brasilian Ministry of Defense.
The opening slide reads:
“This recontructions was created from a base of information collected from the internet, TV and radio reports, and principally from interviews (broadcast on TV) of people that witnessed the accident.”
Slide 2 recaps the basic information about the tradgedy:
“A communication failure may have caused the fall of GOL flight 1907, last Friday (the 29th). A source from the [aviation] sector confirmed reporting from the “O Globo” newspaper that a Legacy jet, built by Embaer and sold to an American business, was flying at 37,000 feet in the area of Serra de Cachimbo, with the permission of the Brasilia control tower. [Meanwhile] the Manaus control tower authorized a GOL Boeing 737-800, with 155 people aboard, to climb from 35,000 to 39,000 feet at the request of the pilot. But the two tower did not communicate …”
Impact Theory
The slides then present the author’s impact theory which explains both the minimal (relatively speaking) damage to the Legacy and catastrophic damage to the 737. Basically, the author suggests that the left winglet of the Legacy severed the left wing of the 737 near the outboard aileron. As the 737 wing portion came free, portions damaged the left horizontal stabilizer on the Legacy’s T-tail.
Sufficient wing area (and aileron) was lost on the 737 to precipitate an unrecoverable left roll and pitch-down into a ‘corkscrew’ dive. The author suggests an average velocity of 350 km/h during the dive for a total duration of 1 minute 53 seconds to impact. It is unclear from the slides the source for these numbers. The author also suggests that portions of the aircraft broke apart prior to impact due to overloading during the dive.
The final slide shows main fuselage and wing roots of the 737 as they came to rest inverted in the jungle. From the picture, it is clear that the landing gear are extended. This provides strong evidence that the initial collision did not incapacitate the 737 pilots nor completely destroy power and control systems on the 737. Most upset recovery procedures include the use of landing gear extension to increase drag (and hence airspeed buildup) during situations such as these and it appears the pilots made their best attempt in a difficult situation.
Our condolences go out to those who lost friends and family in this tradgedy and hope that the final investigation will reduce the likelyhood of future accidents.
Download the PowerPoint File (it does not require MS PowerPoint to view): ALAcidente_da_GOL_Uma_Versao1.pps