Accident | |
---|---|
Date | 5 March 1967 |
Summary | Controlled flight into terrain caused by pilot error |
Site |
Roberts International Airport,
Monrovia, Liberia 6°12′25″N 10°22′44″W / 6.207°N 10.37897°W |
Total fatalities | 56 (5 ground fatalities) |
Aircraft | |
Aircraft type | Douglas DC-8-33 |
Operator | Varig |
Registration | PP-PEA |
Flight origin | Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci International Airport, Rome, Italy |
Stopover | Roberts International Airport, Monrovia, Liberia |
Destination | Galeão International Airport, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
Passengers | 71 |
Crew | 19 |
Fatalities | 51 |
Survivors | 39 |
Ground casualties | |
Ground fatalities | 5 |
Varig Flight 837 was a flight from Fiumicino Airport, Rome, Italy to Roberts International Airport, Monrovia, Liberia, originating in Beirut, Lebanon. On 5 March 1967, due to pilot error, the flight crashed during approach to Runway 04 of Roberts International Airport. [1] Of the 71 passengers and 19 crew on board, 50 passengers and the flight engineer perished. In addition, 5 people on the ground were also killed. The aircraft caught fire and was written off. This is the worst aviation accident in Liberia to this day. [2] [3]
Investigators determined the probable cause of the crash to be "The failure of the pilot-in-command to arrest in time the fast descent at a low altitude upon which he had erroneously decided, instead of executing a missed approach when he found himself too high over the locator beacon." [4]