VARIG - Viação Aérea Rio Grandense

Boeing 737-200

On final approach to Goiânia-Santa Genoveva Airport, the crew encountered poor weather conditions with a limited visibility due to rain. The aircraft landed about 500 metres past the runway threshold but as it was misaligned, the right main gear touched down on the left side of the runway. The crew attempted to steer the plane back onto the runway when the right main gear collapsed. The aircraft went out of control, lost its right engine then its nose gear and came to rest on the runway. All 67 occupants evacuated safely.

Boeing 737-200

The aircraft departed Belém-Val de Cans Airport on a flight to Brasília with intermediate stops in Marabá and Carajás, carrying 48 passengers and a crew of six. The approach to Carajás-Parauapebas Airport was completed in poor weather conditions with rain falls, clouds down to 120 metres and a limited visibility due to rain and fog. On final the aircraft was unstable and landed hard on runway 10. On touchdown, the right main gear was torn off and the aircraft went out of control. It veered off runway to the right, collided with trees and eventually came to rest in a wooded area. The copilot was killed as the right side of the cockpit was destroyed upon impact. Ten other people were injured and 43 escaped unhurt. The aircraft was destroyed.

Boeing 737-200

Following a wrong flight preparation and erroneous computer setting regarding the route, the crew computerized 027° instead of 270°. After takeoff from Marabá Airport at 1725LT, the crew was cleared to climb to FL290 and maintained heading of 270° for 40 minutes. The flight was then cleared to descend to FL200 by Belém ACC. However, the crew failed to find navigational aids and lost radio contact. Course was changed to 090 degrees as the aircraft further descended down to FL40. The crew then followed a river, heading 165 degrees. Because of the sunset and haze the pilot's had difficulty navigating. Also, they failed to establish radio contact on several frequencies and failed to find navaids in the area. After the crew found the NDB, both engines stopped due to fuel exhaustion. The captain elected to make an emergency landing when the aircraft crashed in the jungle about 60 km from São José do Xingu. Rescue teams arrived on site 44 hours later. 42 occupants were injured while 12 passengers were killed. The aircraft was destroyed. It appeared that the computerized flight plan used a four digit representation of the magnetic bearing with the last digit being a tenth of a degree without any decimal separator. A course of '027.0' was presented as '0270'.

Boeing 707

About 20 minutes after takeoff from Abidjan-Port-Bouet Airport, while cruising over the Atlantic Ocean, the fire alarm on engine n°1 sounded. As the fuel temperature was abnormally high, it was decided to shut down the engine. The captain declared an emergency and was cleared to return. On approach, he was cleared to land on runway 03 but preferred to land on runway 21 that was equipped with an ILS system. After completing a back circuit by night but in relative good visibility, the airplane passed over the Abidjan VOR then the pilot-in-command initiated a left turn when the stall warning sounded. While completing a left turn in a flaps and landing gear up configuration, the airplane banked left, stalled and crashed in the forest of Akakro located about 10 km northeast of Abidjan Airport, near the city of Bingerville. A passenger was seriously injured while 50 other occupants were killed.

Boeing 707

After touchdown on a wet runway at Manaus-Eduardo Gomes Airport, the four engine airplane deviated to the right, causing the right main gear to struck runway lights. Upon impact, the right main gear was torn off and the airplane came to rest. All three crew members escaped uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair. It was reported that the crew landed at an excessive speed of 148 knots on a wet runway due to heavy rain falls. It may be possible that the aircraft suffered aquaplaning after touchdown.

Boeing 707

The four engine airplane departed Tokyo-Narita Airport at 2023LT on a cargo flight to Rio de Janeiro with intermediate stops in Los Angeles and Lima. There were six crew members on board as well as 53 paintings by Manabu Mabe, returning from a Tokyo exhibition, valued at US$1.24 million. At 2045LT, the last radio transmission was recorded with ATC and about 15 minutes later, while in cruising altitude, the airplane disappeared from the radar screens. SAR operations were immediately initiated by Japanese and American Authorities but eventually suspended after several days as no trace of the aircraft nor the six occupants was found. The captain, Gilberto Araújo da Silva, was flying the Varig Boeing 707 that crashed while approaching Paris-Orly Airport on July 11, 1973.

Avro 748

Few minutes after takeoff from Pedro Afonso, the crew encountered technical problems and decided to return. The approach was completed at a too high speed and the airplane landed too far down the runway, approximately 300 meters from the runway end. Unable to stop within the remaining distance, the airplane overran, crossed a street and crashed into a house. A woman and her two children were killed in the house as well as the copilot. A second crew member was injured while 13 other occupants were unhurt. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Boeing 707

The airplane departed Rio de Janeiro-Galeão Airport at 0303LT on flight RG820 to Paris-Orly Airport. The en route part of the flight was uneventful. At 13:57 the aircraft had descended to FL80 and contacted Orly approach, who told the crew to maintain FL80 and head to the OLS VOR which would take the aircraft to the downwind leg of runway 26. At 13:58:20 the flight crew contacted Orly approach and reported a "problem with fire on board". An emergency descent was requested. At 13:59 clearance was given to descend to 3000 feet for a runway 07 landing, making a straight-in approach possible. While the situation on board was getting worse (smoke entering the cockpit and passengers becoming asphyxiated), a clearance to descend to 2000 feet was given at 14:01:10. The flight crew put on oxygen masks as smoke was making it impossible to read the instruments. At 14:03 the pilot decided to make an emergency landing 5 km short of the runway with gear down and flaps at 80°. The Boeing approached with considerable nose-up attitude, in a slight left bank. The aircraft truncated some small trees and made a heavy landing on a field. Both main gears collapsed and the engines were torn off in the subsequent skid. The fuselage however, remained intact. Ten occupants (all crew members) evacuated the aircraft. By the time the firemen arrived (6-7 minutes later) the fire had burned through the roof and there was no sign of life. Of the four unconscious occupants the firemen could evacuate, only one survived.

Boeing 707

On final approach to runway 14 at Rio de Janeiro-Galeão Airport, at an altitude of 200 feet, the airplane nosed down and crashed into the sea. Two crew members were rescued while two others were killed. The aircraft was destroyed.

Avro 748

The crew (a pilot under supervision and an instructor) were engaged in a local training flight at Porto Alegre Airport. After liftoff, while in initial climb, the crew retracted the gear when the airplane stalled and crashed back onto the runway, slid for several yards and came to rest. Both pilots were uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.