Accident description
Last updated: 24 July 2014
| Status: | |
| Date: | Tuesday 8 June 1982 |
| Time: | 02:25 |
| Type: |  Boeing 727-212 |
| Operator: | VASP - Viação Aérea São Paulo |
| Registration: | PP-SRK |
| C/n / msn: | 21347/1282 |
| First flight: | 1977-07-23 (4 years 11 months) |
| Engines: | 3 Pratt & Whitney JT8D-17 |
| Crew: | Fatalities: 9 / Occupants: 9 |
| Passengers: | Fatalities: 128 / Occupants: 128 |
| Total: | Fatalities: 137 / Occupants: 137 |
| Airplane damage: | Destroyed |
| Airplane fate: | Written off (damaged beyond repair) |
| Location: | Sierra de Pacatuba, CE ( Brazil)
 |
| Phase: | Approach (APR) |
| Nature: | Domestic Scheduled Passenger |
| Departure airport: | Rio de Janeiro-Galeão International Airport, RJ (GIG/SBGL), Brazil |
| Fortaleza-Pinto Martins Airport, CE (FOR/SBFZ), Brazil | |
| Flightnumber: | 168 |
VASP Flight 168 departed São Paulo for a flight to Fortaleza, with an intermediate stop at Rio de Janeiro (GIG). The first leg of the flight was uneventful. As the flight approached Fortaleza, the crew were cleared to descend from their cruising altitude of FL330 to FL050 (5000 feet). In night-time conditions with the bright lights of the city in front, the captain descended below 5000 feet. Despite two altitude alert system warnings and the co-pilot's warning of the mountains ahead, the captain continued to descend below the minimum descend altitude. The Boeing then struck a wooded mountainside at 2500 feet.
Classification:
Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) - Mountain
Sources:
» Aviation Disasters / D. GeroPhotos
Aircraft history
| date | registration | operator | remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23 JUL 1977 | 9V-SGA | Singapore Airlines | |
| 06 JUN 1980 | PP-SRK | VASP |
Map
This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does not display the exact flight path.
Distance from Rio de Janeiro-Galeão International Airport, RJ to Fortaleza-Pinto Martins Airport, CE as the crow flies is 2169 km (1355 miles).
Distance from Rio de Janeiro-Galeão International Airport, RJ to Fortaleza-Pinto Martins Airport, CE as the crow flies is 2169 km (1355 miles).
This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.
languages:
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Boeing 727
- 37th loss
- 1832 built
- 5th worst accident (at the time)
- 12th worst accident (currently)
Brazil- worst accident (at the time)
- 3rd worst accident (currently)