JACKSON FLORES / RIO DE JANEIRO
A VASP Boeing 737-200 hit treeson approach and then slid off the runway while landing at Presidente Médici International Airport, Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil, in fog on 26 January.
According to local sources, the aircraft (PP-SPJ) performed a shallow approach to runway 06, initially striking treetops several hundred metres short of the threshold. Despite sustaining damage it landed with no injuries to the 93 people on board. It was carrying 87 passengers and six crew between Manaus and Goiânia, with stops at Rio Branco and Porto Velho. On approach at about 02.15 local time, the crew were advised that the airfield was enveloped in dense fog.
The impact with trees ripped away the 737's main landing gear as the crew attempted a missed approach, but the engines apparently ingested debris from the trees and the aircraft sank and hit the runway, then veered off to the left.
Under similar circumstances, a RICO Taxi Aéreo Embraer Brasília crashed last August, with the loss of 23 passengers and crew. The airport has VOR/distance measuring equipment and a non-directional beacon, but no instrument landing system (ILS), although it often has late evening and early morning fog. Standard procedure for flights arriving in fog is to divert to Porto Velho or Manaus. The Acre state governor has met VASP and Varig representatives to renew pressure on Brazil's airport management authority Infraero to ensure Rio Branco will be equipped with an ILS.
Source: Flight International
