Boeing 727-200 crash, Jun 8, 1982 (137 killed), Fortaleza
Boeing 727-200 accident on June 8, 1982 near Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil with 137 fatalities. Cause: Controlled flight into terrain after the captain...
- Date: June 8, 1982
- Aircraft: Boeing 727-200
- Location: Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil
- Fatalities: 137
- Phase of flight: Approach and landing
- Cause: Controlled flight into terrain after the captain continued descent below the cleared altitude, likely disoriented by city lights, despite warnings.
A VASP Boeing 727 on a night scheduled flight from Rio de Janeiro to Fortaleza descended below its 5,000 ft clearance limit and struck a wooded mountainside in the Aratanha range near Pacatuba. All 137 people on board were killed. The captain was judged to have been disoriented by the city lights and ignored two ground proximity warnings and the first officer's cautions.