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VASP Flight 168
	PP-SNH, an aircraft similar to the one involved
Accident
Date	June 8, 1982
Summary	Controlled flight into terrain due to pilot error
Site	Aratanha Mountains; near Pacatuba, CE, Brazil
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Boeing 727-212
Operator	VASP
IATA flight No.	VP 168
ICAO flight No.	VSP 168
Call sign	VASP 168
Registration	PP-SRK
Flight origin	Congonhas Airport; São Paulo, Brazil
Stopover	Galeão International Airport; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Destination	Pinto Martins International Airport; Fortaleza, Brazil
Occupants	137
Passengers	128
Crew	9
Fatalities	137
Survivors	0

VASP Flight 168, a Boeing 727-212 registered PP-SRK, was a scheduled passenger flight from São Paulo to Fortaleza, Brazil which, on June 8, 1982, crashed into a mountainside, while descending into Fortaleza, killing all 137 people on board.^[1]

The crash of Flight 168 remains both the largest death toll of a Brazilian aircraft accident from the 20th century and the third-highest death toll of any aviation accident in Brazil after Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907 and TAM Airlines Flight 3054.^[2]

Passengers and crew

Flight 168 carried 128 passengers and 9 crew members. Captain Fernando Antônio Vieira de Paiva, age 43, had spent over 15,000 hours in the air. First officer Carlos Roberto Duarte Barbosa, age 28, had logged over 5,000 hours. Engineer José Erimar de Freitas, age 31, had accumulated only 279 hours in the air since his qualification as a flight engineer in 1979.

Notably, the passengers included Brazilian business magnate Edson Queiroz, whose self-titled conglomerate had pioneered the nation's shift from wood-burning stoves to gas stoves.^[3] Queiroz had originally purchased a ticket for a VARIG flight the following morning, but, uncertain it would arrive in time for an early meeting in Fortaleza, exchanged it for a seat on VASP Flight 168 shortly before takeoff.^{[citation needed]}

Accident

Flight 168's first leg was from São Paulo to Rio de Janeiro, which was completed uneventfully. The flight then departed Rio de Janeiro for Fortaleza. As the flight approached its destination, it was cleared to descend from its cruising altitude of flight level 330 – approximately 33,000 feet (10,000 m) mean sea level – to 5,000 feet (1,500 m). Flying at night, with the lights of the city of Fortaleza in front, the Boeing 727 descended through its 5,000-foot (1,500 m) clearance limit, and kept descending until it crashed into a mountainside at 2,500 feet (760 m), killing all 137 on board.^[4]^[5]

Investigation

The investigation revealed that the captain, possibly disoriented due to bright lights from the city ahead, continued the descent well below the 5,000 feet (1,500 m) clearance limit, despite being warned twice by the ground proximity warning system and the co-pilot of the terrain ahead. As the aircraft kept descending, it struck a wooded mountainside at 2,500 feet (760 m) and crashed.^{[citation needed]}

References

^ Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network
^ Ranter, Harro. "Brazil air safety profile". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 2019-05-10.
^ "Nossa Historia" [Our History]. GEQ.com.br (in Portuguese). Grupo Edson Queiroz. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
^ "VASP 168 – O ÚLTIMO VÔO DO PP-SRK" [VASP 168 – Last flight of PP-SRK] (PDF) (in Portuguese). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-09-24. Retrieved 2006-10-03.
^ da Silva, Germano; Ari César, Carlos (2008). "VASP 168". O rastro da bruxa: história da aviação comercial brasileira no século XX através dos seus acidentes 1928–1996 [The witch trail: history of Brazilian commercial aviation in the 20th century through its accidents 1928-1996] (in Portuguese) (2 ed.). Porto Alegre: EDIPUCRS. pp. 318–326. ISBN 978-85-7430-760-2.