Somewhere over the Amazon jungle in Brazil two modern, brand new aircraft crossed paths and one of them never landed. It is assumed that, at 37,000 feet, these two aircraft collided and the larger of the two, a Boeing 737-800, entered a descending spiral which culminated on the floor of the jungle. The jungle was so thick that rescuers had to parachute in and clear landing spaces for rescue helicopters. Of the 154 crew and passengers on the Boeing none survived.

Meanwhile, an Embraer Legacy 600 business jet experienced a slight “jolt”, described by a Times writer as a “car hitting a pothole”, landed at a nearby military base where they discovered damage to the left winglet and some damage to its tail. The wing had started to peel back, causing the Legacy passengers to fear they were going to crash, but the pilots were able to land safely.

What happened?

As with most aviation accidents the cause is not readily apparent. Each aircraft was under air traffic control (ATC), and each aircraft was equipped with TCAS (Traffic Collision Avoidance System) which should have warned them they were too close. To further complicate things, these aircraft were operating in a “gray” area of radar coverage where two different ATC facilities” responsibilities overlap. It appears that the Legacy jet was following one airway at 37,000 feet and was supposed to descend to 36,000 feet upon reaching yet another airway.
The Boeing was traversing the area at 37,000 feet.

The interesting part.