Summary Pilot error Passengers 71 Aircraft type Douglas DC-8-33 Date 5 March 1967 Fatalities 56 (5 ground fatalities) Passenger count 71 | Site Monrovia, Liberia Survivors 39 Registration PP-PEA Operator Varig Survivor 39 Crew count 19 | |
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Similar South African Airways F, Lake Central Flight 527, 1967 Nicosia Britannia, Aeroflot Flight 2230, Thai Airways Internatio | ||
Varig Airlines Flight 837 was a flight from Fiumicino Airport, Rome, Italy to Roberts International Airport, Monrovia, Liberia. On 5 March 1967, due to pilot error, the flight crashed during approach to Runway 04 of Roberts International Airport. 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.
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."