All 155 Feared Dead in Brazil Jet Crash

In this picture released by Brazil's Air Force, a part of Gol airline's Boeing 737-800, center, is seen near the Jarina cattle ranch, 1,750 kilometers (1,090 miles) northwest of Sao Paulo in the state of Mato Grosso on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2006. The jetliner crashed in the Amazon jungle on Friday, Sept. 29, 2006, apparently after clipping an Embraer's Legacy 600 jet. Officials said Saturday they doubt any of the 155 people aboard survived. (AP Photo/Brazil's Air Force, Handout) (Str - AP)

BRASILIA, Brazil -- Search crews hunted Sunday through the wreckage of a Brazilian jetliner that crashed in the Amazon rain forest, though authorities said there was little chance any of the 155 people aboard had survived.

The Boeing 737-800 apparently clipped a smaller executive jet which likely caused the crash Friday in jungle so dense that crews had to cut down trees Saturday to clear a space for rescue helicopters to land.

Banner headlines in Brazilian newspapers Sunday said there were no survivors from the crash, citing the nation's airport authority.

But air force officials still held out a slim possibility of survivors among the 149 passengers and six crew aboard Gol airlines Flight 1907. If they are confirmed dead, it would be Brazil's worst air disaster.

"There's little indication of survivors, but we won't rule out the possibility," Brazil Air Force Brig. Gen. Antonio Gomes Leite Filho said in a news conference Saturday night. "We haven't fully explored the crash scene; it's a very complicated area."

Filho said rescue operations would continue until authorities are sure there are no survivors. Searches resumed at daybreak Sunday after a break overnight.

The flight vanished Friday while flying from the jungle city of Manaus to Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro. Searchers located the wreckage on Saturday.

The president of Brazil's airport authority, Jose Carlos Pereira, said Saturday the jetliner and a Brazilian-made Legacy executive jet may have collided before the crash, though that was still under investigation.

"There was some kind of contact between the two aircraft and it is highly probable that this was the cause," he said.

Pereira said the plane apparently hit the jungle floor at nearly 310 mph.

"At that speed it is highly unlikely any survivors will be found," he said.

He said a full investigation was needed to determine the cause and the air force said that investigation could take several months.