A Brazilian judge Friday indicted two U.S. pilots and four Brazilian air traffic controllers on manslaughter-related charges stemming from the deadliest air disaster in Brazil's history, court spokesman Fabio Paz said.Last September, 154 people died when an Embraer Legacy 600 jet clipped a Gol Airlines Boeing 737 midair. The larger jet crashed into the remote Amazon jungle, killing everyone on board. The smaller jet made an emergency landing with a wingtip missing.
Judge Murilo Mendes accepted charges made by a prosecutor last week, but the decision has not yet been published in the official Brazilian newspaper, Diario Oficial, Paz said. Once published -- as early as next week -- those indicted have five days to appeal.
The U.S. pilots, Joseph Lepore and Jan Paul Paladino are due in court for interrogation on August 27. The air traffic controllers, identified as Jomarcelo Fernandes Dos Santos, Lucivando Tiburcio De Alencar, Leandro Jose Santos De Barros and Felipe Santos Dos Reis, are set to appear in court the next day.
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