physics

Varig Flight 797

Varig Flight 797 is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Varig Flight 797 rather than just read about it. In short: Varig Flight 797 was a scheduled passenger flight from Abidjan, Ivory Coast to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. On 3 January 1987, the Boeing 707 crashed during an emergency return to Abidjan, killing all 12 crew members and 38 of the 39 passengers.

Key takeaways

Varig Flight 797 belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Varig Flight 797 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Varig Flight 797 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Varig Flight 797 was a scheduled passenger flight from Abidjan, Ivory Coast to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. On 3 January 1987, the Boeing 707 crashed during an emergency return to Abidjan, killing all 12 crew members and 38 of the 39 passengers. After an engine failure, the pilot decided to turn back but misjudged the approach and stalled the aircraft. It crashed onto a rubber plantation in the midst of the jungle, 18 kilometres (11 mi; 9.7 nmi) from the airport at a speed of 400 kilometres per hour (220 kn; 250 mph). Many passengers who survived the initial crash died in the fire that followed.

Background

Aircraft The aircraft involved was a Boeing 707-379C, registered as PP-VJK, that first flew in 1968. It was powered by four Pratt & Witney JT3D-3B turbofan engines. PP-VJK was Varig's final passenger Boeing 707, and the aircraft's final flight with Varig, having already been sold to the Brazilian Air Force.

Crew The flight crew consisted of Captain Júlio César Carneiro Corrêa (38), First Officer Nélson Figueiredo, and Flight Engineer Eugênio Cardoso.

Accident On 2 January, during the aircraft's penultimate flight to Abidjan, the fire alarm for the outer left (No. 1) engine sounded. Another airline, Air Afrique, which performed maintenance for Varig, inspected the engine and determined that it was a false alarm. In the early morning hours of darkness on 3 January, the aircraft departed Port Bouet Airport in Abidjan. 20 minutes after departure and 200 kilometres (120 mi; 110 nmi) from Abidjan, the fire alarm for the no. 1 engine sounded a second time. Flight engineer Cardoso reported high fuel temperatures in the engine, but the other engines were functioning normally. As a precaution, captain Corrêa shut down the faulty engine and decided to return to Abidjan. Cardoso then reported a fuel leak on engine no 1, though the crew had difficulty identifying it. A flight attendant reported that a passenger had observed engine no. 1 emitting fire. As the aircraft flew over Abidjan, the tower controller at Port Bouet Airport cleared the flight to land on runway 03, the closest available runway. Even though the weather was suitable for a visual approach, captain Corrêa requested to land on runway 21 instead, as it was equipped with an instrument landing system (ILS). However, this approach required additional maneuvers, including a left turn onto a 270 degree heading. The crew (possibly in an attempted to prevent asymmetric thrust) decided to delay extending the flaps and the landing gear until turning past the VHF omnidirectional range. With the flaps retracted, the aircraft flew faster to prevent a stall. During the turn, the stick shaker (stall warning) was activated and the ground proximity warning system emitted several "bank angle" warnings. The aircraft rolled 90 degrees to the left, stalled, and crashed on a rubber plantation in the midst of the jungle 18 kilometres (11 mi; 9.7 nmi) from the airport at a speed of 400 kilometres per hour (250 mph).

Victims Nationalities of the persons on board:

Three people (all passengers) initially survived, though one died several hours later. Four days after the disaster, a British passenger died of his injuries 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 survivor, identified as an Ivorian university professor, had burns on less than 20 percent of his body. While being interviewed by investigators, the professor said that more people had survived the initial impact but died of burns. He also stated that he managed to drag the British passenger who initially survived, away from the wreckage of the aircraft. The sole survivor died of a heart attack on 4 March 2015 at the age of 72.

See also Varig Flight 810 VASP Flight 168

References

External links

Aircraft details at Aviation Safety Network

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Varig Flight 797

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Varig Flight 797 claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Varig Flight 797 before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Varig Flight 797 ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Varig Flight 797

In research: Varig Flight 797 appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Varig Flight 797 in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Varig Flight 797 is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1987 in Ivory Coast, Airliner accidents and incidents caused by engine failure, Airliner accidents and incidents caused by mechanical failure, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Varig Flight 797 outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Varig Flight 797 in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Varig Flight 797 means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Varig Flight 797 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Varig Flight 797 in simple terms?

Why does Varig Flight 797 matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Varig Flight 797?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Varig Flight 797.