I think its only fair that the pilots are asked to stay in Brazil until the investigation is over. A hotel in Copacabana isnt exactly too rough....
If the investigation proves they are innocent, they will be released. If they are guilty, they will be charged according to the Brazilian laws. Pretty standard I'd say.
Look at the reverse situation. What if two Brazilian pilots picking up a G-V collided with a SWA 73 and killed 150 people... what would the US government do? what would the media/public opinion say? how would their pressure influence the government's decision? Think about it for a second. Imagine the headlines on the newspapers and the hype on TV news.
Personally, I'd rather be the US pilot stuck in Brazil than the reverse scenario.... Especially after the new "patriot acts" where the US government can ship you to Guantanamo, torture you and force you to confess only because of your ethnic background.... (this is not a tangent, its a fact that gives you an idea of the treatment the US government reserves for foreign inidividuals awaiting trial/investigation)
They are in a hotel. They have not been harmed. They are entitled to legal assitence. That's more that the US is giving to thousands of Guantanamo detainees...
(and don't even start with the "but they are terrorists" propaganda, if you truly believe all of Guantanamo's detainees are terrorist,s you switched your brain off a few years ago. Some of those guy in Guantanamo are just as innocent as you and I, just the wrong nationality)
Btw, I am in no way insinuating they are guilty or did anything wrong. They might be perfectly innocent. And even if they did make a mistake that caused the accident, I am not supporting the idea of charging a pilot with manslaughter after an accident which was not voluntary (quite the contrary). But the accident happened in Brazilian soil, therefore the Brazilian laws apply. We need to accept and respect this fact, in the same way we expect foreign citizens to respect US laws. I doubt US authorities would have been in a rush to send the Brazilian pilots home until the investigation had been completed....
The mid-air over Brazil was a tragedy that I'm sure none of the people involved were hoping for. I can't imagine how the surviving pilots feel knowing the accident caused 150 deaths (whether or not they had any fault...I know I would feel terrible). However, boycotting Brazilian products, making stupid bumper stickers and failing to view the events from a different point of view, only because the 2 surviving pilots happened to be born in the same country as you, is just plain foolish IMHO. Grow up.