Background
VASP Flight 168 was a scheduled domestic passenger service from São Paulo to Fortaleza, Brazil, operated by a Boeing 727-212 registered PP-SRK. The aircraft carried 128 passengers and 9 crew members. The captain, Fernando Antônio Vieira de Paiva, 43, had over 15,000 flight hours. First officer Carlos Roberto Duarte Barbosa, 28, had over 5,000 hours. Flight engineer José Erimar de Freitas, 31, had 279 hours since his 1979 qualification but had been with VASP since 1971 as an aircraft engineer. Notable passenger Edson Queiroz, a business magnate, had switched from a VARIG flight to this one.
Flight and Descent
The flight's first leg from São Paulo to Rio de Janeiro was uneventful. After departing Rio for Fortaleza, the aircraft was cleared to descend from flight level 330 (approximately 33,000 feet) to 5,000 feet. Flying at night with Fortaleza's lights visible ahead, the 727 descended through the 5,000-foot clearance limit and continued descending until it struck a mountainside at 2,500 feet. All 137 on board were killed.
Investigation
The investigation revealed that the captain, possibly disoriented by the bright city lights, continued the descent well below the 5,000-foot clearance limit despite being warned twice by the ground proximity warning system and the co-pilot about terrain ahead. The aircraft subsequently struck a wooded mountainside at 2,500 feet and crashed.
Aftermath
The crash of Flight 168 remains the deadliest Brazilian aircraft accident of the 20th century and the third-highest death toll in Brazil, after Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907 and TAM Airlines Flight 3054.