BRAZIL/FILE: Air France crash relatives meet Brazil's president President Dilma Rousseff

Record ID: 382136

  • Title: BRAZIL/FILE: Air France crash relatives meet Brazil's president President Dilma Rousseff
  • Date: 27th August 2011
  • Summary: BRASILIA, BRAZIL (AUGUST 26, 2011) (REUTERS) ***CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** RELATIVES IN PALACE AFTER MEETING CAMERAMEN FATHER OF AIR FRANCE CRASH VICTIM AND HEAD OF THE BRAZILIAN RELATIVES' ASSOCIATION, NELSON MARINHO, TALKING TO REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) HEAD OF THE ASSOCIATION OF FAMILIES OF VICTIMS OF THE AIR FRANCE CRASH, NELSON MARINHO, SAYING: "The president will now ask CENIPA (Center of Investigation and Prevention of Aircraft Accidents) to read these documents that came not only from Germany, but also from France. I brought and delivered in her hands a 750-page document reporting problems of the Airbus A330 aircraft." RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (AUGUST 25, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF AN AIR FRANCE AIRBUS A330 PLANE ON AIRPORT TARMAC BRASILIA, BRAZIL (AUGUST 26, 2011) (REUTERS) RELATIVES SHOWING PICTURES OF AIR FRANCE VICTIMS TO REPORTERS
  • Embargoed: 11th September 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Brazil, Brazil
  • Country: Brazil
  • Topics: Accidents,Transport
  • Reuters ID: LVAACTV583XWR29HMBK35IZV07Q9
  • Story Text: The families of the victims of an Air France plane that crashed in 2009 met Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff on Friday (August 26) to call for the participation of Brazilian investigators in the crash probe.
    Earlier this month the Brazilian relatives sent a letter to French authorities lashing out at a recent report released by the country's Bureau of Inquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA) investigation bureau which blamed the pilots for ignoring stall warnings and following procedures that would have prevented the accident that killed 228 people.
    According to the president of Brazil's relatives association, Nelson Marinho, Rousseff pledged to pressure French officials to increase the communication between the Brazilian air accidents investigation agency and the BEA.
    The victims' relatives claim the French report has covered up the real causes behind the crash in order to protect the airliner and the plane maker Airbus.
    Marinho, who lost his son in the crash, said Rousseff would ask Brazil's investigation agency to analyze the reports on the crash.
    "The president will now ask CENIPA (Center of Investigation and Prevention of Aircraft Accidents) to read these documents that came not only from Germany, but also from France. I brought and delivered in her hands a 750-page document reporting problems of the Airbus A330 aircraft," he said after the meeting.
    The relatives believe the participation of the Brazilian air accidents bureau would make the investigation process more transparent and unbiased.
    They seemed overall pleased after the meeting with Rousseff.
    Esther Van Sluijs, whose daughter died in the crash, said the president was very kind.
    "She showed sympathy, character and I felt that Brazil is protected," she said.
    Alexandra Salvador, who lost her husband in the accident, told reporters Rousseff said she would defend Brazil's interests in the case.
    "She was very firm in saying that she thinks of Brazil, of us, the relatives, of our safety and that our nation may not be belittled," she said.
    The question of whom is to blame is of huge importance as both firms face criminal probes in France. Victims' families have laid the foundation for lawsuits on both sides of the Atlantic.
    The Airbus A330 jet plummeted 38,000 feet and hurtled into the Atlantic Ocean on June 1, 2009 after crossing a massive storm.
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