Varig Flight 797

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 km from the airport at a speed of 400 km/h. Many passengers who survived the initial crash died in the fire that followed.

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 km 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 km from the airport at a speed of 400 km/h.