# Varig Flight 810 > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Varig_Flight_810 > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Varig_Flight_810.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varig_Flight_810 > Source revision: 1339300121 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **Varig Flight 810** was a scheduled international passenger flight from [Rio de Janeiro](/source/Rio_de_Janeiro) to [Los Angeles](/source/Los_Angeles) with stopovers in [Lima](/source/Lima), [Bogotá](/source/Bogot%C3%A1), [Panama City](/source/Panama_City), and [Mexico City](/source/Mexico_City). On 27 November 1962, the [Boeing 707-441](/source/Boeing_707-441) operating the route crashed into a mountain on an approach to Lima, killing all 97 passengers and crew. At the time it was the deadliest aviation accident in [Peru](/source/Peru) until being surpassed by [LANSA Flight 502](/source/LANSA_Flight_502) in 1971 and later [Faucett Perú Flight 251](/source/Faucett_Per%C3%BA_Flight_251) in 1996.[1] ## Background ### Aircraft The aircraft involved was a [Boeing 707-441](/source/Boeing_707) powered by four [Rolls-Royce Conway 508](/source/Rolls-Royce_Conway) engines, registered PP-VJB to [Varig](/source/Varig). At the time of the accident, the aircraft was two years old and had accumulated 6,326 flight hours; its [certificate of airworthiness](/source/Airworthiness_certificate) (CofA) was issued on 12 September 1962 and was due to expire on 22 May 1963.[1][2][3] ### Crew Due to having two sets of crew on board, 17 crew-members were aboard the flight, of whom eight were cockpit crew.[2] The cockpit crews consisted of:[4] - [Captains](/source/Pilot_in_command) Gilberto Salomoni and Edu Michel - [Co-pilots](/source/First_officer_(aeronautics)) Frederico Helmut Hirschmann and Gaspar Balthazar Ferrario - [Flight engineers](/source/Flight_engineer) Leonardo Nunhofer and Armindo Ferreira Maciel - [Radio operators](/source/Radio_operator) Besmar Lino dos Reis and Francisco Evangelista Oliveira All crew-members were citizens of Brazil except for two stewardesses. ## Synopsis At 03:43 UTC the flight departed from Rio en route to Lima carrying 80 passengers and 17 crew-members. The flight passed Pirassununga at 04:30, Campo Grande at 05:24, [Corumbá](/source/Corumb%C3%A1) at 05:48, [Santa Cruz](/source/Santa_Cruz_de_la_Sierra) at 06:30, [Cochabamba](/source/Cochabamba) at 06:52, [Charaña](/source/Chara%C3%B1a_Municipality) at 07:15, and [Pisco](/source/Pisco,_Peru) at 08:13. The crew established contact with Lima [air traffic control](/source/Air_traffic_control) at 08:09 while at an altitude of 36,000 feet (11,000 m) and gave an estimate of overflying Pisco at 08:13 before reaching Lima airport at 08:36. When they requested descent clearance, air traffic control warned the Boeing 707 of the presence of a Douglas DC-6 that would also reach Pisco at 08:13, but the DC-6 was at an altitude of 13,500 feet (4,100 m). At 08:14, one minute after passing Pisco, the Boeing 707 started its descent, reporting at 08:19 that it was at 26,000 feet. Shortly thereafter the flight was cleared for a straight-in approach to runway 33. At 08:24 the flight reported to ATC it was at an altitude of 15,000 feet (4,600 m) whilst still in its descent; at 08:30 it had reached an altitude of 12,000 feet (3,700 m) and was directly overhead Las Palmas. Because the flight was still too high for a straight-in approach to runway 33, ATC suggested that the aircraft make a 360° orbit over Las Palmas to lose enough altitude for an approach and report again when the turn was completed. The flight continued descending, then turned slightly right from its 330° heading, passing east of the airport before making a left turn and overflying the airport. The flight continued the turn until it was heading south, passing the west of Las Palmas to initiate the [ILS](/source/Instrument_landing_system) procedure, then finally made a 180° turn to reach the ILS back course, at a heading of 327°. The flight stayed on the standard intercept course for nearly three minutes until before initiating the turn North. The heading of the flight was 333° when it crashed into the Laz Cruz Peak, eight miles east of the approach track for the published ILS procedure. Communications with ATC ceased at 08:37, and an emergency was declared at 08:55.[5] The wreckage of the Boeing 707 was found at 18:00 by the [Peruvian Air Force](/source/Peruvian_Air_Force). The impact of the crash and explosion from the crash completely destroyed the aircraft, killing all 80 passengers and 17 crew members.[5] Visibility at the time of the accident was reported to be 14 kilometres (8.7 mi).[6] ## Conclusions The aircraft was determined to be flying normally when it crashed; at the time of impact the engines were operating at approach power. The cause of the accident could not be proven conclusively, but several theories have been suggested.[7] The flight time for the 113-mile distance between Pisco and Lima was listed as 23 minutes on the flight plan, when in reality the average flying time reported by other airlines was closer to 16 minutes. The overestimate of time by seven minutes resulted in the aircraft's excessive altitude when arriving at Lima. Analysis of data suggested it was possible that the pilot incorrectly tuned to the Limatambo non-directional beacon in the belief it was the 335-KHz Lima NDB. There was also a possibility that the navigation equipment was giving the flight crew inaccurate information, or a malfunction of the automatic direction finder causing the flight crew to believe the [ILS](/source/Instrument_landing_system) was not functioning.[7][8] The probable cause of the accident was cited as follows: "A deviation, for reasons unknown, from the track prescribed for the instrument approach along the ILS back course of Lima-Callao Airport."[1] ## See also - [Avianca Flight 410](/source/Avianca_Flight_410) - [Air Inter Flight 148](/source/Air_Inter_Flight_148) - [Pakistan International Airlines Flight 268](/source/Pakistan_International_Airlines_Flight_268) - [American Airlines Flight 965](/source/American_Airlines_Flight_965) - [Tiradentes Revolutionary Movement (1961-1962)](/source/Tiradentes_Revolutionary_Movement_(1961-1962)) ## References 1. Ranter, Harro. ["ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 707-441 PP-VJB Lima-Callao International Airport (LIM)"](https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19621127-0). *aviation-safety.net*. Retrieved 2017-10-16. 1. ICAO Accident Digest No.14 Volume II, Circular 71-AN/63 (140-144) 1. ["Histórico do PP-VJB - Aviação Pauista"](http://www.aviacaopaulista.com/frota/varig/pp-vjb.htm). *www.aviacaopaulista.com*. Retrieved 2017-10-16. 1. SIlva, Carlos Ari César Germano da (2008). [*O rastro da bruxa: história da aviação comercial brasileira no século XX através de seus acidentes (1928-1996)*](https://books.google.com/books?id=XacqwP2kjy8C&pg=PA217) (in Portuguese). EDIPUCRS. p. 222. ISBN 9788574307602. 1. ICAO Accident Digest No.14 Volume II, Circular 71-AN/63 (pg. 140) 1. ICAO Accident Digest No.14 Volume II, Circular 71-AN/63 (pg. 141) 1. Gero, David (2009-09-01). [*Aviation Disasters: The World's Major Civil Airliner Crashes Since 1950*](https://books.google.com/books?id=tw0TDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT67). The History Press. ISBN 9780752499925. 1. ICAO Accident Digest No.14 Volume II, Circular 71-AN/63 (pg. 144) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Varig Flight 810](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varig_Flight_810) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varig_Flight_810?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.