An FAA safety alert cautioning Embraer Legacy pilots against resting their foot on a footrest near the instrument panel because they might inadvertently put the transponder into standby mode has the aviation world scratching its head. While officials aren’t saying there’s a definite link, the document offers new insight into what might have been a contributing factor in the fatal collision of a Legacy operated by charter firm ExcelAire and a Gol Airlines Boeing 737 over the Amazon jungle last September.
In a Safety Alert for Operators (SAFO) dated July 3, the FAA warns that crews of the Legacy and airline-equivalent ERJ 135/ 140/145 should not put their feet on the “footrest just below the instrument panel” because doing so might “put the ATC transponder into standby mode.” Although the investigation into the cause of the collision is ongoing, a transcript of the Legacy’s cockpit voice recorder indicates the pilots were not given a TCAS alert, suggesting that the system might have been inoperative before the collision.
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