All nations appear to be suffering from the dearth of Air Traffic Controllers caused by the explosive growth of cheap air travel, however Brazil and Argentina are compounding this with a lack of investment in vital safety-related infrastructure, according to Bill Voss, President of the independent Flight Safety Foundation. IATA, IFALPA and IFATCA, international spokesmen organizations for airlines, Pilots and Air Traffic Controllers have also warned that things in those two mighty South American nations can only get worse before they get better because of a lack of political will and a policy of denial. Four flight controllers and two American pilots have been recently indicted on the equivalent of manslaughter charges, following a September collision between a small corporate jet and a 737 of GOL Airlines. The easy defense lays in all the causative evidence pointing to poor communications, deficient English language skills and gapped radar coverage over Brazil's vast Amazon Jungle. Meanwhile in Argentina, the failure of a key radar following a lightning strike many months ago has led to near collisions above its major hub Buenos Aires. In one incident a U.S. bizjet and an Aerosur flight came close enough for the Aerosur pilot to see the other pilot's uniform. Another incident records that an airliner circling over Buenos Aires passed just 300 yards from another. Argentine Defense Minister Nilda Garre has insisted her country's system is safe, but acknowledges that the government has long deferred costly investments in new radars. On Friday, all flights from Sao Paulo to Europe and the United States were temporarily suspended due to additional equipment failures and another "go slow" strike by controllers. Of the 1,422 flights scheduled before 6:00 p.m. Friday, at least 115 flights were canceled and 461 were delayed at least an hour, according to Brazil's airport authority. The air force, which oversees Brazil's air traffic control system, blamed the delays on problems with radar screens and a communications link failure on Tuesday. In a statement, air force commander Brig. Juniti Saito said some civil aviation controllers will be replaced with military aviation controllers. He said a small group of controllers has refused to operate equipment that is certified to be in good condition. "This behavior is completely unacceptable because it violates the inalienable right of individuals to come and go," Saito said. Related Links