Joe Sharkey, the New York Times reporter who was in the small jet that collided with the Boeing 737 over the Brazilian Amazon says that he fears that the American pilots who flew the plane are in some kind of danger in Brazil.
In an interview to NBC, the journalist classified the air control in the area the accident occurred as terrible and put in doubt any investigation being done now by the Brazilian authorities. Sharkey said that people should remain skeptical on any kind of evidence collected by the Brazilian authorities concerning the accident.
According to the reporter, the Legacy’s pilots did not have any communication by radio after the collision. He had already told Brazilian reporters before leaving Brazil that the pilots had found the Serra do Cachimbo Air Base – the place where the landed – using maps, without any help from the control tower.
Sharkey, one of the five passengers of the Legacy, went to Brazil to write a piece on the Brazilian aviation market at the invitation of ExcelAire, the Long Island company that had bought the small jet.
On Tuesday, October 3, Sharkey wrote an article for the New York Times in which he reported on his experience aboard the plane during the ordeal after the collision against the Boeing.
Some reader who saw the article were incensed by the journalist’s celebration of the pilots’ heroism leaving in the background the tragedy of the Boeing in which the 155 people aboard died.
A reader who identified himself as T. Tornaghi commented: "Heroes? The 155 people, including children, would still be alive if the Legacy had kept to its specified route: at a 36,000 ft instead of moving to a 37,000 ft."
Lorena, another reader, wrote: "I am happy to hear the author is well despite having been through a frightening 30 minutes on the air. However, I would appreciate it if the author refrained from referring to the two jet pilots as heroes at this point.
"There is a lot of evidence coming through which points to the Legacy having been at an unauthorized altitude level of 37,000 feet (as confirmed by the author himself), when they apparently should have been at 36,000 feet.
"I won’t be quick to jump to conclusions but if the above mentioned fact is confirmed the two pilots would be a far cry from a pair of heroes. Let’s remember that the true heroes in this story are the 155 victims who lost their lives, their families and the people working hard to recover the bodies and help heal the loss brought by such a horrible accident.
"Let’s all hope the author’s heroes do not turn out to have been mass murderers."