Varig Flight 967


Varig Flight 967 was an international cargo flight that disappeared on 30 January 1979 while en route from Narita International Airport in Japan to Rio de Janeiro–Galeão International Airport in Brazil, with a stopover in Los Angeles International Airport. Neither the aircraft, a Boeing 707-323C cargo aircraft, nor the six crew members have ever been found.

Background

Aircraft

The aircraft involved was a Boeing 707-323C, construction number 19235, line number 519, delivered new to American Airlines under registration N7562A on 31 August 1966, and sold to Varig and delivered as PP-VLU on 28 March 1974. The jet was powered by four Pratt & Whitney JT3D-3B engines.

Flight crew

The flight crew consisted of Captain Gilberto Araújo da Silva, 49, First Officer Erni Peixoto Mylius, 45, Second Officers Antonio Brasileiro da Silva Neto, 39, Evan Braga Saunders, 37, and Flight Engineers José Severino Gusmão de Araújo, 42, and Nicola Exposito, 40. In 1973, Captain Araújo da Silva was in charge of flight RG 820, a Boeing 707 carrying 134 people which crash-landed near Orly Airport, in Paris, with 123 fatalities. In 1979, at the time of disappearance, he had more than 23,000 hours logged.

Accident

On 30 January 1979, the Boeing 707-323C registered PP-VLU disappeared en route from Narita International Airport to Rio de Janeiro–Galeão International Airport. The cargo aircraft, operated by Varig, lost radio contact 30 minutes after takeoff, about ENE of Tokyo. Notably, the cargo included 53 paintings by Manabu Mabe, returning from a Tokyo exhibition, valued at US$1.24 million. Neither the wreck nor the paintings were ever found.

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