Varig Flight 797

Varig Flight 797

PP-VJK, the aircraft involved in the accident, is seen here at Zürich Airport in 1982.
Accident summary
Date	3 January 1987
Summary	Engine failure
Site	Near Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
Passengers	39
Crew	12
Fatalities	50
Survivors	1 (initially 2, one passenger died four days later)
Aircraft type	Boeing 707-320C
Operator	Varig
Registration	PP-VJK
Flight origin	Port Bouet Airport
Destination	Rio de Janeiro-Galeão International Airport

Varig Flight 797 was a flight from Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. On 3 January 1987 the Boeing 707-320C used for the route crashed on the terrain, killing all 12 crew members and 38 of 39 passengers.

When departing Abidjan the aircraft developed problems with its left (No. 1) engine. While returning the aircraft crashed into the jungle 18 km from the airport. The crash site was a rubber plantation.

Four days after the disaster, Ahmad Wansa, a British citizen who was injured in the crash, died 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 remaining survivor, identified as Ivory Coast University Prof. Neuba Yessoh, had burns on less than 20 percent of his body. Yessoh died of heart attack on 4 March 2015 at the age of 72.

Nationalities of the persons on board are as follows:

Nationality	Passengers	Crew	Total
Brazil	10	12	22
Israel	2	0	2
Côte d'Ivoire	13	0	13
Lebanon	3	0	3
France	2	0	2
West Germany	2	0	2
Senegal	2	0	2
United States	1	0	1
United Kingdom	1	0	1
Peru	1	0	1
Chile	1	0	1
Cameroon	1	0	1
Total	39	12	51

External links

External image
Photos of PP-VJK at Airliners.net

• Aircraft details at Aviation Safety Network