SÃO PAULO, Brazil — A Brazilian judge has thrown out negligence charges against two American pilots accused of contributing to the crash of a passenger jet in the Amazon that killed 154 people two years ago, state media and a lawyer for the pilots said Tuesday.
But the federal judge overseeing the case refused to dismiss charges similar to involuntary manslaughter for pilots Joseph Lepore of Bay Shore, N.Y., and Jan Paladino of Westhampton Beach, N.Y., according to their lawyer, Joel Weiss.
Judge Murilo Mendes also dismissed some charges lodged against four Brazilian air traffic controllers accused of failing to keep the Embraer Legacy 600 flown by the American pilots from a collision course with a Brazilian Boeing 737, according to Agencia Brasil, the state news agency.
The larger Gol airlines jet plunged into the jungle after the two planes collided. It disintegrated on impact in thick jungle on Sept. 29, 2006, killing all aboard.
The smaller plane was damaged but landed safely.
The case is on track to be tried next year, and the charge equivalent to involuntary manslaughter is punishable by up to three years in prison.
