Brussels - Lisbon - Funchal

On November 19, 1977 at 09:48 PM, Brussels - Lisbon - Funchal experienced a crash involving Boeing 727-200, operated by Air Portugal - Transportes Aéreos Portugueses, with the event recorded near Funchal Madeira.

The flight was categorized as scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

164 people were known to be on board, 131 fatalities were recorded, 33 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 79.9%.

Crew on board: 8, crew fatalities: 6, passengers on board: 156, passenger fatalities: 125, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. While descending to runway 24 on an NBD approach, the crew encountered poor weather conditions with limited visibility to 3 km, clouds down to 1,500 feet and rain falls. Unable to establish a visual contact with the runway, the pilot-in-command initiated a go-around. Few minutes later, while on a second attempt to land, the crew landed too far down, about 2,060 feet past the runway threshold (runway 24 is 5,000 feet long) at a speed of 148 knots. Immediately after touchdown, the crew activated the thrust reversers and deployed the spoilers but unable to stop on a wet runway, the airplane overran. It went down a steep embankment, collided with a stone bridge, broke into several pieces and eventually came to rest in flames on a beach located about 40 meters below airfield elevation. The aircraft was totally destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire. Six crew members and 125 passengers were killed while 33 other occupants were seriously injured.

Aircraft reference details include registration CS-TBR, MSN 20972, year of manufacture 1975.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 32.6759°, -16.9009°.