The pilot of the 2017 Greenpeace plane was sentenced to eight years in prison in the fatal Rio Negro crash.

• The Federal Public Prosecutor's Office (MPF) obtained the conviction of the pilot who drove the Greenpeace plane that crashed in the Rio Negro in 2017.
• The accident left three people injured, in addition to the pilot himself, and the death of Swedish Carolina Josefina Steiser, a member of the non-governmental organization.
• The Federal Court concluded that the cause of the accident was the pilot's failure to follow basic flight safety routines.
• The established eight-year sentence can be served under a semi-open regime. An appeal is still pending.

The Federal Court of Amazonas sentenced to eight years in prison the pilot of the Greenpeace plane that crashed in Rio Negro, near the town of Novo Airão in 2017, resulting in the death of one person.

The plane, a Cessna Caravan 208 amphibious model, with registration PR-MPEoverturned and sank in the river after attempting a water landing with the landing gear extended.

The accident would not have happened if the pilot had completed the basic safety checks, which are mandatory and must be carried out with the aircraft still on the ground and before the landing procedure.

Information about the conviction was published by the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office (MPF)the plaintiff in the lawsuit, which alleged an attack on aviation security with so-called “possible malice”.

The accident occurred in the region of the Anavilhanas archipelago. At that point, the plane overturned and sank into the river after attempting to land in the water.

• In the Anac registry it is indicated that the plane, manufactured by Cessna, was manufactured in 2009 and belongs to Greenpeace Brazil.
• The class is billed as an “Amphibious Turboprop 1” and takes off with up to 3.7 tonnes. Its category is intended for private services.
• The expiration date of the certificate of airworthiness was August 10, 2021 and the annual maintenance inspection was valid until August 3, 2018.

Anac indicated that, according to data from the Brazilian Aeronautical Registry (RAB), the annual maintenance inspection (IAM) and certificate of airworthiness (CA) of the aircraft were valid, that is, the aircraft was regular and therefore fit to fly.

Three people were injured and one died: Swedish Carolina Steiser, member of Greenpeace.

The court found that the pilot failed to complete a series of mandatory checklists while the plane – a Cessna Caravan 208 amphibious model – was still on the ground.

According to the MPF, the pilot “was fully aware of the insecurity generated by the non-compliance with the checklists, but chose to continue the operation”.

“In the case of dangerous activities, they can only be carried out safely if the legally established procedures are respected. Failure to respect them creates a risk of danger for oneself and for third parties,” » said the MPF in the complaint.

The pilot of the plane was sentenced to eight years in prison, in a semi-open regime, that is to say, to stay in prison only at night. The decision can be appealed to the federal prosecutor's office and the defense.

The MPF specifies that the accused is considered innocent until the final and final criminal decision which definitively recognizes his guilt, that is to say when there is no longer an appeal to present.

What were the contributing factors to the accident?

Failure to follow the checklist during the pre-flight inspection and the flight itself contributed to landing with an inadequate configuration. This attitude could have been triggered by the pilot's confidence in his operational ability, due to his long experience in aviation.

Failure to follow the checklist indicated, in addition to the low level of situational awareness, a low level of concern for flight safety due to failure to follow basic procedures set out in the manufacturer's manuals and in applicable regulations.

The pilot's choice not to use the checklist during the flight phases revealed an inadequate evaluation of the parameters related to the operation of the aircraft.

Failure to comply with the elements of the pre-flight inspection sheet prevented the reset of the AMPHIB PUMP 1 and 2 circuit breakers.

After performing the gear extension and retraction test by the emergency system, the AMPHIB PUMP circuit breakers 1 and 2 were not reset, the aircraft being delivered to fly in this condition.

The setting recorded on the AIRSPEED switch of the landing gear position warning system computer demonstrated that the intended speed of 74 kt did not conform to that recommended in the Wipaire Inc 9600-1A installation manual . in its revision G.

AMPHIB PUMP circuit breakers 1 and 2 were found disarmed after the event, indicating that after maintenance was performed, the task performer likely forgot to comply with aircraft reconfiguration procedures.

Furthermore, it is possible that the pilot's automatism in relation to his way of carrying out flight operations, without the use of the checklist, prevented the correct perception of the state of the circuit breakers and the erroneous positioning of the landing gear. 'landing.

Performing a water landing with the aircraft in an inappropriate configuration for the situation indicates a reduced level of situational awareness of the pilot, given that the factors and conditions necessary for the safety of the operation are not were not respected.