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Two US pilots involved in Brazil's worst air disaster have been virtual prisoners since the crash, stuck on an "emotional roller coaster ride", as they stay in their hotel rooms with the curtains closed just steps from Copacabana beach, according to their lawyer.
The two men face possible criminal charges in the accident.
Joseph Lepore, 42, of Bay Shore, NY, and Jan Paladino, 34, of Westhampton Beach, NY, safely landed their small aircraft after it collided with a passenger airline on September 29. All 154 people on the larger plane died, while seven people on board the small plane survived.
Lepore and Paladino had been flying the executive jet to New York when it collided with the southbound Brazilian Boeing 737. Early speculation in Brazil pointed to errors by the US pilots, but now Brazil's largest daily newspaper has reported that air traffic controllers were recorded putting the US pilots on a collision course.
The Brazilian Air Force has not turned over control tower transcripts to federal police or let criminal investigators interview the 10 air traffic controllers working that day.
Brazil's Defence Minister Waldir Pires labelled "irresponsible" the pilots' statements that they had been flying at the correct altitude. There was media speculation in Brazil that the pair had ignored their flight plan and switched off the jet's transponder to avoid being tracked as they tested its performance - allegations denied by the pilots.
The newspaper report said air traffic controllers ordered them to stay at 37,000 feet (11,278m) - an altitude reserved for planes travelling south - according to a leaked flight recorder transcript.
