Varig
VARIG (acronym for Viação Aérea RIo-Grandense, ''Rio Grandean Airways'') was the first airline founded in Brazil, in 1927. From 1965 until 1990, it was Brazil's leading airline, and virtually its only international one. In 2005, Varig went i ...
Flight 820 was a flight of the Brazilian airline
Varig
VARIG (acronym for Viação Aérea RIo-Grandense, ''Rio Grandean Airways'') was the first airline founded in Brazil, in 1927. From 1965 until 1990, it was Brazil's leading airline, and virtually its only international one. In 2005, Varig went i ...
that departed from
Galeão International Airport Galeão (Portuguese meaning galleon) may refer to:
*Galeão Air Force Base, a Brazilian Air Force base in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
*Rio de Janeiro–Galeão International Airport (Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport), an airport in t ...
in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
,
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, on July 11, 1973, for
Orly Airport
Paris Orly Airport (french: Aéroport de Paris-Orly), commonly referred to as Orly , is one of two international airports serving the French capital, Paris, the other one being Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG). It is located partially in Orly an ...
, in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. The plane, a
Boeing 707
The Boeing 707 is an American, long-range, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype first flown in 1954, the initial first flew on December 20, ...
, registration PP-VJZ, made an emergency landing on onion fields about four kilometers from
Orly Airport
Paris Orly Airport (french: Aéroport de Paris-Orly), commonly referred to as Orly , is one of two international airports serving the French capital, Paris, the other one being Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG). It is located partially in Orly an ...
, due to smoke in the cabin from a fire in a
lavatory
Lavatory, Lav, or Lavvy may refer to:
*Toilet, the plumbing fixture
*Toilet (room), containing a toilet
*Public toilet
*Aircraft lavatory, the public toilet on an aircraft
*Latrine, a rudimentary toilet
*A lavatorium, the washing facility in a mon ...
. The fire caused 123 deaths; there were only 11 survivors (ten crew members and one passenger).
Aircraft and crew
The
Boeing 707-320C
The Boeing 707 is an American, long-range, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype first flown in 1954, the initial first flew on December 20, ...
registration
Register or registration may refer to:
Arts entertainment, and media Music
* Register (music), the relative "height" or range of a note, melody, part, instrument, etc.
* ''Register'', a 2017 album by Travis Miller
* Registration (organ), th ...
PP-VJZ, serial number 19841, was manufactured in February 1968 and had flown 21,470 hours. The aircraft was originally meant to be sold to
Seaboard World Airlines
Seaboard World Airlines was an international all-cargo airline based in the United States. Its headquarters were on the grounds of John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City.
History
Seaboard World Airlines was founded on September ...
, but was bought by Varig prior to this taking place. Varig briefly leased it to Seaboard World Airlines but otherwise owned and operated the aircraft for the entirety of its life. The aircraft had seating capacity for 124 passengers and was operating close to full on the fateful flight.
The crew aboard the flight consisted of four
flight crew
Aircrew, also called flight crew, are personnel who operate an aircraft while in flight. The composition of a flight's crew depends on the type of aircraft, plus the flight's duration and purpose.
Commercial aviation
Flight deck positions ...
, four relief flight crew, and nine
cabin crew
A flight attendant, also known as steward/stewardess or air host/air hostess, is a member of the aircrew aboard commercial flights, many business jets and some government aircraft. Collectively called cabin crew, flight attendants are primar ...
. The primary flight crew consisted of Captain Gilberto Araújo da Silva, 49, First Officer Alvio Basso, 46, Flight Engineer Claunor Bello, 38, and Navigator Zilmar Gomes da Cunha, 43. Captain Araújo da Silva was highly experienced and had flown 17,959 hours, of which 4,642 hours were on the 707. First Officer Basso was also very experienced, with 12,613 flying hours, of which 5,055 hours were on the 707. Both Bello and Gomes da Cunha were also highly experienced airmen with 9,655 hours and 14,140 hours in total respectively; between them they had 8,113 hours on the 707.
The relief flight crew consisted of Captain Antonio Fuzimoto, 45, First Officer Ronald Utermoehl, 23, Flight Engineer Carlos Nato Diefenthaler, 38 and Navigator Salvador Ramos Heleno, 45. Relief Captain Fuzimoto was also very experienced, with 17,788 flying hours total, of which 3,221 were on the 707. Relief First Officer Utermoehl was much less experienced, with only 1,540 hours in total, of which only 788 were on the 707. Relief Flight Engineer Diefenthaler and Relief Navigator Heleno were both very experienced airmen, with 16,672 and 15,157 flying hours, respectively, and 17,859 total hours between them on the 707.
The cabin crew consisted of Chief Purser João Egidio Galleti, 33, and attendants Edemar Gonçalves Mascarenas, 31, Carmelino Pires de Oliveira Jr, 31, Sergio Carvalho Balbino, 28, Luiz Edmundo Coelho Brandão, 26, Alain Henri Tersis, 26, Hanelore Danzberg, 34, Andrea Piha, 24 and Elvira Strauss, 24.
Incident
Flight 820's problems began when a fire started in a rear lavatory. Crew members moved to the front of the airplane toward the emergency exit, as many passengers in the rear of the plane inhaled smoke. Prior to the forced landing, many of the passengers had already died of carbon monoxide poisoning and smoke inhalation. The aircraft landed in a field 5 km short of the runway, in a full-flap and gear-down configuration.
Of the 134 passengers and crew aboard the flight, ten crew and one passenger, 21-year-old Ricardo Trajano, survived. Of the crew, Captain Araújo da Silva, First Officer Basso, Flight Engineer Bello, Navigator Gomes da Cunha, Relief Captain Fuzimoto, Chief Purser Galleti and Attendants Pires de Oliveira and Piha were in the cockpit and evacuated from there, and Tersis and Brandão escaped out of the forward galley. Trajano was found unconscious with Relief Navigator Heleno, Attendant Balbino and another passenger; Balbino and the passenger died at the scene, whereas Heleno died in a hospital soon after.
A possible cause of the fire was that the lavatory waste bin contents caught fire after a lit cigarette was thrown into it. Consequently, the FAA issued AD 74-08-09 requiring "installation of placards prohibiting smoking in the lavatory and disposal of cigarettes in the lavatory waste receptacles; establishment of a procedure to announce to airplane occupants that smoking is prohibited in the lavatories; installation of ashtrays at certain locations; and repetitive inspections to ensure that lavatory waste receptacle doors operate correctly".
Passengers
Most of the passengers on the aircraft were Brazilian. The only survivors were in the cockpit and the first several rows of seats. Of the 11 survivors, 10 were members of the crew;
[Death in the Air: Fire and Fumes]
" ''Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
''. 23 July 1973. Retrieved on 8 December 2010. the sole surviving passenger disobeyed instructions to remain in his seat.
Notable passengers who died included:
*
Jörg Bruder
Jörg Bruder (16 November 1937 – 11 July 1973) was a Brazilian sailor and geology professor at the University of São Paulo. Born in São Paulo, he became the first three-time Finn Gold Cup champion. Bruder died in 1973 in Orly, Paris, on Va ...
, Olympic sailor
*
Filinto Müller
Filinto Strubing Müller (11 July 1900 – 11 July 1973) was a military-associated Brazilian politician who served as President of the Senate for the state of Mato Grosso. He was also Chief of Federal District police during much of the governm ...
, President of the
Senate of Brazil
The Federal Senate ( pt, Senado Federal) is the upper house of the National Congress of Brazil, National Congress of Brazil. When created under the Brazilian Constitution of 1824, Imperial Constitution in 1824, it was based on the House of Lo ...
*
Agostinho dos Santos
Agostinho dos Santos (April 25, 1932 – July 11, 1973) was a Brazilian singer and composer of bossa nova, MPB and rock and roll, active from the early 1950s until his premature death in the crash of Varig Flight 820 in 1973, at the age of 41.
...
, singer
*
Júlio Delamare
Júlio Delamare (July 1, 1928 – July 11, 1973) was a Brazilian sports journalist who worked as a journalist and sports commentator for the newspaper ''O Globo'' for more than ten years and for the television network Rede Globo, where he was the ...
,
sports journalist
Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism started in the early 1800s when it was targeted to the social elite and transitioned into an integral part of the n ...
See also
*
Air Canada Flight 797
Air Canada Flight 797 was an international passenger flight operating from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to Montréal–Dorval International Airport, with an intermediate stop at Toronto Pearson International Airport. On 2 June 1983, ...
, another accident caused by a fire in the aircraft lavatory
*
Saudia Flight 163
Saudia Flight 163 was a scheduled Saudia passenger flight departing from Quaid-E-Azam Airport in Karachi, Pakistan bound for Kandara Airport in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia via Riyadh International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia that caught fire aft ...
*
ValuJet Flight 592
ValuJet Airlines Flight 592 was a regularly scheduled flight from Miami International Airport to Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport. On May 11, 1996, the ValuJet Airlines McDonnell Douglas DC-9 operating the route crashed into t ...
*
Varig Flight 967
Varig Flight 967 was an international cargo flight from Narita International Airport in Japan to Rio de Janeiro–Galeão International Airport in Brazil, with a stopover at Los Angeles International Airport. On 30 January 1979, the Boeing 707 ...
, another flight that was captained by Da Silva that disappeared over the Pacific Ocean.
References
Further reading
*
Varig 707 had toilet fire" ''
Flight International
''Flight International'' is a monthly magazine focused on aerospace. Published in the United Kingdom and founded in 1909 as "A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport", it is the world's oldes ...
''. 17 April 1976. p. 995.
* "Caixa-preta: O relato de três desastres aéreos brasileiros" Objetiva Ed. 2000, 328pages
External links
*
FAA Airworthiness Directive regarding placarding
*
Official reportof the inquiry commission of the French secretariat of transportation
Archive
{{Use dmy dates, date=July 2014
Airliner accidents and incidents caused by in-flight fires
Aviation accidents and incidents in 1973
Aviation accidents and incidents in France
1973 in France
Accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 707
1973 in Paris
820
__NOTOC__
Year 820 ( DCCCXX) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place Abbasid Caliphate
*Abbasid caliph Al-Ma'mun appointed Isa ibn Yazid al-Juludi as Abbasid gove ...
July 1973 events in Europe