The guys are locked up in a hotel in Rio. Unfortunately, their whereabouts can't be disclosed out of fear for their safety. The Brazilian press has whipped up a fervor against these guys, and they have not set foot outside their hotel in almost 6 weeks. They've been widely portrayed in the Brazilian press as two millionaire playboys playing around in Daddy's jet, doing loops and rolls at FL370. Seriously, that's what's been said. In actuality, Joe is just a charter pilot trying to eke out a living trying to feed his family, and Jan is a AA guy on furlough. Millionaires, indeed. The public is in such a frenzy about this that they've been locked away in the hotel for their own good.
They got to actually go outside for some sun and air twice in 6 weeks - both times for about 10 minutes at a time on the rooftop of the hotel. At this point, they just want to come home to their families. The evidence in their favor is overwhelming. ATC personnel and the CVR tapes clearly show that they were told to maintain the altitude that they were at. No one yet knows why the transponder didn't work. There was no reason whatsoever for them to turn it off, and Joe swears he didn't touch it. This was the aircraft's maiden voyage, and I personally suspect it just plain failed, which would normally just be a plain old squawk on a new plane under different circumstances. ATC has testified that they tracked the plane for over an hour with no mode C, and yet they never notified the crew. The politics down there is such that the Brazilian govenment is left with egg on their face, and they're trying to extridite themselves from this without looking like fools. I believe the Chinese call it saving face. Meanwhile these guys rot in Brazil. It's really a shame, but as I said earlier, it could easily be any of us. Scary, isn't it?
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