In the article, it states:

"Air traffic controllers said both pilots failed to heed commands
from the control tower that could have prevented the crash. The
National Transportation Safety Board ruled that the failure of both
pilots to follow air traffic control instructions contributed to the
accident."


If the two pilots "failed to heed commands", I don't understand how
the FAA and the promoter can be at fault. I realize the word
"contributed" was used, but the way the article reads, it sounds like
pilot error.

The way I read it, the controllers probably made mistakes beforehand,
not separating the planes properly. When they became aware of the
situation, they issued urgent commands, which were then not as promptly
followed, as would have been neccessary to avoid the collision. So part
of the blame lies with the controllers for letting the planes come so
close in the first place. But that's just a guess.

BTW: The ex-Russian airline involved in the airliner midair crash near
Ueberlingen/Germany is now sueing for the destroyed plane. In this case
also separation was not properly maintained by the controller. In this
case, the Russian Pilot FOLLOWING the controllers last second
sink-command led to catastrophy, as his TCAS had just issued a climb
warning (and a sink-warning to the oncoming DHL-757).

Nevertheless, in my view, his contribution to the crash has to be
judged even stronger than that of the above pilots. Or rather his
company, which installed the TCAS to comply with European regulations,
but failed to train their crews on it's implications. An Airliner
captain has to understand the implications of a TCAS warning, and why
it has to superseed even controller commands. Tragically, the Copilot
understood the situation but the Captain would not listen to him.

regards,
Friedrich

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