The Brazilian plane crash

Not sure there is anything untoward about the plane crash near Rio, but it's certainly odd when a biz jet tangles with a 737 and the biz jet wins. There's a pretty good account of the crash from a New York Times business travel reporter who was onboard the Legacy jet:

Without warning, I felt a terrific jolt and heard a loud bang, followed by an eerie silence, save for the hum of the engines.

Mr. Sharkey thinks it unlikely they could have survived a mid-air with a 737. Based on the conditions at the time, which Mr. Sharkey said were clear, it's unlikely a 737 wouldn't be seen by the crew unless they were not looking out the window.

Here's one scenario that makes sense:

Still others continue to suggest that the commercial airliner, operated by the Brazilian carrier Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes, had been damaged and in midflight lost a part that then fell into the business jet’s flight path.

A falling part from another aircraft makes more sense to me--such an item might not have been easily seen. If true then it begs the question of exactly what fell off the 737, or whether the 737 was in the process of going down and was breaking up when the bizjet crossed its path. Manpads are a worse case, but without evidence it's unwise to speculate. The Brazilians have invited the NTSB to investigate.

That's good, but apparently they don't trust the two American pilots:

Brazilian authorities confiscated the passports of two American pilots on Tuesday who were flying a business jet that apparently collided with a commercial airliner that crashed last week deep in the Amazon jungle, killing all 155 people on board.

Certainly a concern, but they might be better off in custody. With America's current image in South America being dragged through the mud by the likes of Hugo Chavez and based on some past overreactions, their lives might be in danger.