Pilot's instructions before crash contradicted BERLIN (AP) =97 A Russian pilot received contradictory instructions before= =20 crashing into a cargo plane over Germany last week, German investigators=20 said Monday after reviewing voice recorders from the two jets. The voice=20 recorders show that a Swiss air traffic controller's order for a Russian=20 pilot to descend contradicted the cockpit warning system's command for the= =20 Tu-154 to climb, the investigators said. The automatic cockpit warning=20 systems issued simultaneous instructions for the Russian passenger jet to=20 climb and a cargo jet to descend about 45 seconds before they ultimately=20 collided over southern Germany, killing all 71 people on board. But one second after the on-board system warnings, the Zurich tower, which= =20 was in charge of directing the planes even though they were flying over=20 Germany, told the Russian plane to descend, German investigators said,=20 citing voice recorders from both planes recovered at the crash site. The=20 Russian pilot did not immediately respond to the tower's command, and the=20 Swiss air controllers repeated the order 14 seconds later, the voice=20 recorders indicate. The Russian pilot responded, and 30 seconds later the= =20 planes crashed at 35,000 feet. German investigators did not release a=20 transcript of the voice recorders or further details of any=20 exchanges. Earlier Monday, German air traffic controllers said they tried= =20 to warn the Swiss control tower by phone two minutes before two planes=20 collided, but the only available line was busy. German controllers in the southern city of Karlsruhe made the call to the=20 Zurich tower after receiving an automatic radar warning in the control=20 tower that the planes were on a collision course, Axel Raab, a spokesman=20 for the Karlsruhe control center, told The Associated Press. Investigators= =20 are focusing on the actions of Swiss air traffic controllers and whether=20 they gave the Bashkirian Airlines Tu-154 enough time to avoid collision=20 with the DHL International Boeing 757. Under the division of airspace=20 along the German-Swiss border, the planes were being directed by=20 controllers in Zurich, Switzerland. Swiss prosecutors have opened a=20 criminal investigation to determined whether anyone can be charged with=20 negligent homicide. German investigators said last week that the telephone= =20 system at the Zurich control center was being worked on at the time of the= =20 crash and that the lone controller on duty was working on a reserve phone=20 line. In addition, the center's collision-warning system was out of service= =20 because of maintenance. Investigators say the Zurich tower was making phone calls to the airport in= =20 Friedrichshafen, Germany, to coordinate another flight =97 the last one 98= =20 second before he gave a first warning to the Russian plane. But Joerg=20 Schoenberg, the lead German investigator at the crash site on the shores of= =20 Lake Constance bordering Switzerland, said this did not play a role in the= =20 accident. All 69 people aboard the Russian aircraft, including 45 students headed for= =20 a Spanish beach vacation, and the two DHL pilots were killed. A Russian=20 jet brought 33 of the 37 bodies identified so far to Ufa, the capital of=20 the Russian republic of Bashkortostan. Most of the wreckage has been=20 recovered and brought to the Friedrichshafen airport for investigation. A=20 German lab in Braunschweig is examining the flight data and cockpit voice=20 recorders of both planes. The families of dozens of the dead children=20 gathered privately Monday for quiet burials out of the public eye in=20 Ufa. Earlier in the day, Orthodox and Muslim clergymen offered prayers for= =20 those killed in last week's crash. Russian television reports showed=20 mourners clustered around flower-laden wooden coffins. "It's a great and=20 heavy loss for everybody," Talgat Tadzhuddin, the chief Russian Islamic=20 leader, told RTR television from Ufa. The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com CBC Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ The Trinbago Site of the Week: (Solo) http://www.solobev.com/ (Solo Beverages) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************