Brazil air force finds jetliner wreckage

STAN LEHMAN,
Associated Press Writer

Brazilian air force pilots spotted the wrecked fusilage of a jetliner that crashed deep in the Amazon jungle on Saturday, and an aviation official said it was unlikely any of the 155 people aboard had survived.

The president of Brazil's airport authority, Jose Carlos Pereira, said the pilots searched for Gol airlines Flight 1907 through the night in the remote region.

"Our experience shows that when one cannot find the fuselage relatively intact and when the wreckage is concentrated in a relatively small area, the chances of finding any survivors are practically nonexistent," he said.

If no survivors are found, it would be the deadliest air accident in Brazil's history. In 1982, a Vasp 747 crashed in the northeastern city of Fortaleza, killing 137 people.

Pereira said the jungle canopy where the plane crashed is so thick that helicopters will have to lower emergency crews by rope, then those on the ground would cut down trees to create areas large enough for the helicopters to land.

"The jungle is so dense that we're going to have to open it up," Pereira said. "It's a very complex operation, it's extremely humid there, and there are millions of mosquitoes."

The Boeing 737 vanished Friday on its way from Manaus, a major river city in the heart of the Amazon rain forest, to Rio de Janeiro, 1,700 miles away.

The manager of a cattle ranch near the crash site said the plane may have crashed inside the nearby Xingu Indian reservation.

"We heard a loud explosion and some of our employees saw a plane flying low," Milton Picalho, the manager of the 49,000-acre ranch, said by phone.

Authorities initially said the Gol jet struck a Brazilian-made Legacy 600 executive jet near the Serra do Cachimbo region in Para state, and the smaller plane was able to land with damage to its wing and tail.

The authorities later said they were no longer certain that there had been a collision.

"It is impossible to confirm that there is a relation between the incident which caused the (Legacy) crew to perform an emergency landing in Cachimbo and the disappearance of the Gol airplane," federal aviation officials said in a statement early Saturday morning

The Estado news agency quoted Col. Ramon Bueno, head of regional flight protection in Sao Paulo, as saying a mid-air collision was "inexplicable."

"The two planes are very modern and have anti-collision systems, which sound an alarm to alert the plane to any obstacle," Buena told Estado.

Officials offered no further explanation of why they changed their assessment of the possible cause of the crash.

The flight between Manaus and Rio is popular with foreign tourists but there was no immediate word on the nationalities of those aboard.

U.S. Consular Officer Robin Busse was at the airport seeking a passenger list but did not say if any Americans had been aboard either plane.

Sergio Misaci, 47, said his brother Lazaro, 58, had been traveling to Brasilia to celebrate their mother's 80th birthday.

"I have all the hope in the world. We have to root for them and have faith in God," Misaci said.

The smaller plane, which carries up to 16 passengers, was making its inaugural flight to the United States, where it had been purchased by an American company, said its manufacturer, Embraer.

It was piloted by a U.S. citizen, who had left from the airport in Sao Jose dos Campos, near Sao Paulo, said Bueno, the regional flight protection head in Sao Paulo.

The crash was the first major incident for Gol Linhas Aereas Intelligentes SA, an upstart Brazilian airline that took to the skies in 2001 with just six Boeing 737s in 2001.

Since then Gol has rapidly gained market share by offering low-cost tickets, modeling its service after low-cost carriers in the United States and Europe. The company is now Brazil's second-largest airline.

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Today in history - Sept. 30

The Associated Press

Today is Saturday, Sept. 30, the 273rd day of 2006. There are 92 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Sept. 30, 1846, Boston dentist William Morton used ether as an anesthetic for the first time as he extracted a tooth from merchant Eben Frost.

On this date:

In 1777, the Congress of the United States — forced to flee in the face of advancing British forces — moved to York, Pa.

In 1791, Mozart's opera "The Magic Flute" premiered in Vienna, Austria.

In 1938, a day after co-signing the Munich Agreement allowing Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain praised the accord on his return home, saying, "I believe it is peace for our time."

In 1946, an international military tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany, found 22 top Nazi leaders guilty of war crimes.

In 1949, the Berlin Airlift came to an end.

In 1954, the first atomic-powered vessel, the submarine Nautilus, was commissioned by the Navy.

In 1955, actor James Dean, 24, was killed in a two-car collision near Cholame, Calif.

In 1962, black student James Meredith succeeded on his fourth try in registering for classes at the University of Mississippi.

In 1966, the Republic of Botswana declared its independence from Britain.

In 1986, the U.S. released accused Soviet spy Gennadiy Zakharov, one day after the Soviets released Nicholas Daniloff.

Ten years ago: With just hours to spare before the start of the fiscal year, the Senate passed and President Clinton signed a $389 billion spending bill.

Five years ago: Under threat of U.S. military strikes, Afghanistan's hard-line Taliban rulers said explicitly for the first time that Osama bin Laden was still in the country and that they knew where his hide-out was located. George Gately, the creator of the "Heathcliff" newspaper comic strip, died in Ridgewood, N.J., at age 72.

One year ago: Out of jail after 85 days, New York Times reporter Judith Miller testified before a grand jury investigating the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity. Six men were killed in a string of robberies targeting Hispanic immigrants at trailer parks in and around Tifton, Ga. (Four suspects were arrested and charged with murder and other offenses.)

Today's Birthdays: Actress Deborah Kerr is 85. Author Elie Wiesel is 78. Actress Angie Dickinson is 75. Singer Cissy Houston is 73. Singer Johnny Mathis is 71. Actor Len Cariou is 67. Rock singer-musician Dewey Martin (Buffalo Springfield) is 64. Singer Marilyn McCoo is 63. Pop singer Sylvia Peterson (The Chiffons) is 60. Rock musician John Lombardo is 54. Singer Deborah Allen is 53. Actor Calvin Levels is 52. Actor Barry Williams is 52. Singer Patrice Rushen is 52. Actor Vondie Curtis-Hall is 50. Actress Fran Drescher is 49. Country singer Marty Stuart is 48. Actress Debrah Farentino is 47. Rock musician Bill Rieflin (R.E.M.) is 46. Actress Crystal Bernard is 45. Actor Eric Stoltz is 45. Rapper-producer Marley Marl is 44. Country singer Eddie Montgomery (Montgomery-Gentry) is 43. Rock singer Trey Anastasio is 42. Rock musician Robby Takac (Goo Goo Dolls) is 42. Actress Lisa Thornhill is 40. Actress Andrea Roth ("Rescue Me") is 39. Actress Monica Bellucci is 38. Actor Tony Hale is 36. Actress Jenna Elfman is 35. Actor Ashley Hamilton is 32. Actor Mike Damus is 27. Tennis player Martina Hingis is 26. Olympic gold medal gymnast Dominique Moceanu is 25. Actress Lacey Chabert is 24. Actor Kieran Culkin is 24.

Thought for Today: "The average man does not know what to do with this life, yet wants another one which will last forever." — Anatole France, French author (1844-1924).

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