VARIG flight 797

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VARIG flight 797
Varig Boeing 707-320C PP-VJK ZRH Sep 1982.png

The affected machine in September 1982
Accident summary
Accident type Loss of control on final approach
place near Akouré , Ivory CoastIvory CoastIvory Coast 
date 3rd January 1987
Fatalities 50
Survivors 1
Injured 1
Aircraft
Aircraft type United StatesUnited States Boeing 707-320C
operator Brazil 1960Brazil VARIG
Mark Brazil 1960Brazil PP-VJK
Departure airport Abidjan Airport , Ivory Coast
Ivory CoastIvory Coast 
Destination airport Rio de Janeiro-Galeão Airport , BrazilBrazil 1960Brazil 
Passengers 39
crew 12
Lists of aviation accidents

On January 3, 1987, a Boeing 707-320C of the Brazilian airline VARIG had an accident on VARIG flight 797 (flight number: RG797 ) . The machine, which was to perform a flight from Abidjan Airport to Rio de Janeiro-Galeão Airport in Brazil , returned to Abidjan Airport shortly after take-off, whereupon it lost control and crashed on a moonless night. In the accident, 50 of the 51 people on board the machine were killed, there was only one survivor.

Until the accident on Kenya Airways flight 431, it was the worst aircraft accident in Ivory Coast .

plane

In the crashed plane, it was a Boeing 707-320C, which in 1968 in the work of Boeing on the Boeing Field in the State of Washington US than the 726. Boeing 707 off the production line with the serial number 19822 was finally assembled. The first flight of the machine took place on June 28, 1968, on November 4, 1968 it was delivered to VARIG, where it went into operation with the aircraft registration PP-VJK . The four-engine long-range narrow-body aircraft was equipped with four turbofan engines of the type Pratt & Whitney Jt3d-3B equipped.

crew

There was a twelve-person crew on board the machine, consisting of a flight captain, a first officer, a flight engineer and nine flight attendants. The 38-year-old captain Julio César Carneiro Corrêa had 11,000 hours of flight experience, 1,198 of which with the Boeing 707. First officer was Nélson Fontina de Figueiredo, flight engineer was Eugênio Cardoso.

Passengers

39 passengers started the scheduled intercontinental flight from Abidjan to Rio de Janeiro , they came from twelve countries:

nationality Passengers crew total
BrazilBrazil Brazil 10 12 22nd
IsraelIsrael Israel 2 - 2
Ivory CoastIvory Coast Ivory Coast 13 - 13
LebanonLebanon Lebanon 3 - 3
FranceFrance France 2 - 2
GermanyGermany Germany 2 - 2
SenegalSenegal Senegal 2 - 2
United StatesUnited States United States 1 - 1
United KingdomUnited Kingdom United Kingdom 1 - 1
PeruPeru Peru 1 - 1
ChileChile Chile 1 - 1
CameroonCameroon Cameroon 1 - 1
total 39 12 51

Before the flight

On this day, the Boeing 707 PP-VJK was the last scheduled flight for VARIG. The machine was intended for sale to the Brazilian Air Force , where it was to go into operation as a cargo machine with the military aircraft registration FAB 2400 . On the flight to Abidjan, the crew had received a warning about a fire in engine no. 1 (far left). Air Afrique technicians who examined the machine in Abidjan concluded that it was a false alarm.

the accident

About 20 minutes after take-off from Abidjan Airport, the warning signal for a fire from engine no. 1 (far left) sounded. The captain decided to return to the airport to have the engine checked. The flight engineer said shortly after that the fuel temperature was too high. The engine was then switched off. While the machine was descending on Abidjan, the flight engineer added that there was a fuel leak. The crew then received clearance to approach the runway 03 closest to them. Visibility was good despite the dark, moonless night. The master asked for clearance to land on runway 21, as this could be approached with an instrument landing system . For a landing on runway 21, a 270-degree turn had to be flown after flying over the radio beacon . The crew decided to extend the landing gear and the buoyancy aids only after the curve had been flown. During turning flight, the airspeed dropped to stall speed . The stall warning system activated and the warning about a too high roll angle sounded. The master, to whom no external reference points were available in the dark, suffered spatial disorientation. The machine rolled 90 degrees to the left and fell to the ground. It hit 18 kilometers northeast of the airport in the thick rainforest and caught fire.

Victim and survivor

In the accident, 50 of the 51 occupants of the machine were killed. Originally three passengers survived the accident. One victim died a few hours after the accident. A British passenger died after four days. The only survivor was the professor at the University of Ivory Coast , Neuba Yassoh, who had burned 20 percent of his skin surface.

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