Varig Flight 820
Wreckage of the aircraft | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 11 July 1973 |
| Summary | Belly landing following in-flight fire |
| Site | |
| Aircraft | |
| PP-VJZ, the aircraft involved in the accident, seen in 1970 | |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 707-320C |
| Operator | Varig |
| IATA flight No. | RG820 |
| ICAO flight No. | VRG820 |
| Call sign | VARIG 820 |
| Registration | PP-VJZ |
| Flight origin | Galeão International Airport, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Stopover | Orly Airport, Paris, France |
| Destination | Heathrow Airport, London, United Kingdom |
| Occupants | 134 |
| Passengers | 117 |
| Crew | 17 |
| Fatalities | 123 |
| Injuries | 11 |
| Survivors | 11 |
Varig Flight 820 was a scheduled flight of the Brazilian airline Varig that departed from Galeão International Airport in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 11 July 1973, for Orly Airport, in Paris, France. The Boeing 707, registration PP-VJZ, made an emergency landing in onion fields about five kilometres (2+1⁄2 nautical miles) from Orly Airport, due to smoke in the cabin from a lavatory fire. The fire caused 123 deaths; there were only 11 survivors (ten crew members and one passenger). Relief Captain Antonio Fuzimoto was the pilot who handled the controls and landed the plane in the field.