Varig Flight 797

Varig Flight 797
PP-VJK, the aircraft involved in the accident, is seen here at Zürich Airport in 1982.
Accident
Date 3 January 1987
Summary EFTO leading to loss of controls
Site Akouré, Côte d'Ivoire
Aircraft
Aircraft type Boeing 707-320C
Operator Varig
Registration PP-VJK[1]
Flight origin Port Bouet Airport, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
Destination Rio de Janeiro–Galeão International Airport, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Passengers 39
Crew 12
Fatalities 50
Injuries 1
Survivors 1 (initially 3, one passenger died hours after and one passenger died four days later)

Varig Flight 797 was a flight from Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. On 3 January 1987 the Boeing 707-320C used for the route crashed on the terrain, killing all 12 crew members and 38 of 39 passengers.[2]

When departing Abidjan the aircraft developed problems with its left (No. 1) engine.[2] While returning the aircraft crashed into the jungle 18 km from the airport.[3][4] The crash site was a rubber plantation.[5]

Four days after the disaster, Ahmad Wansa, a British citizen who was injured in the crash, died on board a Swiss aircraft while arriving in Paris; he was going to be transferred to a burn unit in a Paris suburb. The sole remaining survivor, identified as Ivory Coast University Prof. Neuba Yessoh,[6] had burns on less than 20 percent of his body.[3] Yessoh died of heart attack on 4 March 2015 at the age of 72.[7]

Nationalities of the persons on board are as follows:

NationalityPassengersCrewTotal
 Brazil101222
 Israel202
 Côte d'Ivoire13013
 Lebanon303
 France202
 West Germany202
 Senegal202
 United States101
 United Kingdom101
 Peru101
 Chile101
 Cameroon101
Total391251

References

  1. ↑ "Registro Aeronáutico Brasileiro (PP-VJK)". Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil.
  2. 1 2 http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19870103-0
  3. 1 2 "Death of Briton Brings Toll To 50 in Abidjan Plane Crash." Associated Press. 7 January 1987. Retrieved on 31 January 2009.
  4. ↑ Germano da Silva, Carlos Ari César (2008). "Na escuridão da noite africana". O rastro da bruxa: história da aviação comercial brasileira no século XX através dos seus acidentes 1928–1996 (in Portuguese) (2 ed.). Porto Alegre: EDIPUCRS. pp. 345–351. ISBN 978-85-7430-760-2.
  5. ↑ "Jetliner Crashes in W. Africa; 49 Killed, 2 Survive." Los Angeles Times. January 4, 1987. Retrieved on August 7, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Varig 707 in Ivory Coast Crash Said to Have Had Earlier Troubles." Washington Post. 6 January 1987. Retrieved on 13 February 2009.
  7. ↑ "Deuil: Neuba Yessoh, le seul rescapé du crash d’avion à Alépé en 1987, inhumé." Fratmat.info 13 April 2015
External image
Photos of PP-VJK at Airliners.net
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