WEB Varig Flight 254 Crash Landing
Passengers Rescued After Plane Crash-Landing in Brazil
WEB Varig Flight 254, a passenger flight from São Paulo to Belém with stopovers in Uberaba, Uberlândia, and Goiânia, crash-landed near Piracanjuba, Brazil on September 13, 1989.
Rescue planes lifted stranded survivors of the jetliner crash-landing from a remote area of Brazil on Wednesday, September 13, 1989. The Varig Flight 254, a Boeing 737-241, was carrying 171 passengers and crew when it crash-landed in a soybean field near Piracanjuba, Brazil, about 250 miles northwest of Rio de Janeiro.
The plane had reported engine trouble shortly after takeoff from Goiânia, and the crew had attempted to return to the airport when the plane lost power and crashed. All 171 people on board survived the crash, but many were injured, including 13 who were seriously injured.
A shepherd, João Batista dos Santos, reported that he came upon the crash site and helped pull survivors from the wreckage.
Rescue workers used helicopters to evacuate the injured to hospitals in Goiânia and Brasília. The cause of the crash is under investigation.
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