São José do Xingu
Encyclopedia
São José do Xingu is a town and municipality in the state of Mato Grosso
in the Central-West Region of Brazil
.
Boeing 737-241
registration PP-VMK operating flight 254
flying from São Paulo-Guarulhos to Belém-Val de Cães
with intermediate stops, crashed near São José do Xingu while on the last leg of the flight between Marabá
and Belém due to a pilot
navigation
al error, which led to fuel exhaustion and a subsequent belly landing
into the jungle, 40 km from São José do Xingu. Out of 54 occupants, there were 13 fatalities, all of them passengers. The survivors were discovered only after 4 of the occupants walked for 3 days through the forest to find help.
Mato Grosso
Mato Grosso is one of the states of Brazil, the third largest in area, located in the western part of the country.Neighboring states are Rondônia, Amazonas, Pará, Tocantins, Goiás and Mato Grosso do Sul. It also borders Bolivia to the southwest...
in the Central-West Region of Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
.
Plane crash
On 3 September 1989, a VarigVarig
VARIG was the first airline founded in Brazil, in 1927. From 1965 until 1990 it was Brazil's leading and almost only international airline...
Boeing 737-241
Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
registration PP-VMK operating flight 254
Varig Flight 254
Varig Flight 254 was a Boeing 737-241, c/n 21006/398, registration PP-VMK, on a scheduled passenger flight from São Paulo, Brazil to Belém, Pará, Brazil, with several intermediate stopovers, on 3 September 1989. Prior to take off from Marabá, Pará, towards the final destination, the crew entered an...
flying from São Paulo-Guarulhos to Belém-Val de Cães
Val de Cães International Airport
Belém-Val de Cães/Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport is the main airport serving Belém, Brazil. Val de Cães, the name of the neighborhood where the airport is located, is the most common spelling although Val de Cans is also considered correct...
with intermediate stops, crashed near São José do Xingu while on the last leg of the flight between Marabá
Marabá Airport
Marabá Airport is the airport serving Marabá, Brazil.It is operated by Infraero.-Airlines and destinations:-Accidents and incidents:*3 September 1989: a Varig Boeing 737-241 registration PP-VMK operating flight 254 flying from São Paulo-Guarulhos to Belém-Val de Cães with intermediate stops,...
and Belém due to a pilot
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
navigation
Navigation
Navigation is the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another. It is also the term of art used for the specialized knowledge used by navigators to perform navigation tasks...
al error, which led to fuel exhaustion and a subsequent belly landing
Belly landing
A belly landing or gear-up landing occurs when an aircraft lands without its landing gear fully extended and uses its underside, or belly, as its primary landing device...
into the jungle, 40 km from São José do Xingu. Out of 54 occupants, there were 13 fatalities, all of them passengers. The survivors were discovered only after 4 of the occupants walked for 3 days through the forest to find help.