On 3 September 1989, a VarigBoeing 737-241 registration PP-VMK, operating flight 254 flying from São Paulo-GuarulhostoBelém-Val de Cães with intermediate stops, crashed near São José do Xingu while on the last leg of the flight between Marabá and Belém due to a pilotnavigational error, which led to fuel exhaustion and a subsequent belly landing into the jungle, 40 km from São José do Xingu. Out of 54 occupants, there were 13 fatalities, all of them passengers. Only 7 of the passengers died as a direct result of the crash, the other 6 occupants died after the crash, due to injuries and at least partially caused by the delayed arrival of rescue resources. Since the flight crashed about 1.200 km away from its intended destination, caused by flying into the wrong direction immediately after take-off - first west, then south, instead of the required north-eastern direction - the search and rescue operations focused on a completely wrong region, much closer to the actual destination of Belém. The survivors were discovered only after 4 of the occupants walked for 3 hours through the forest to find help.[6][7]
^"Divisão Territorial do Brasil" [Territorial Division of Brazil] (in Portuguese). Territorial Division of Brazil and Territorial Limits, Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). July 1, 2008. Retrieved December 17, 2009.
^"Estimativas da população para 1º de julho de 2009" [Population estimates for July 1, 2009] (PDF) (in Portuguese). Population Estimates, Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). August 14, 2009. Retrieved December 17, 2009.
^"Ranking decrescente do IDH-M dos municípios do Brasil" [Descending ranking of the HDI-M of municipalities in Brazil] (in Portuguese). Human Development Atlas, United Nations Development Program (UNDP). 2000. Retrieved December 17, 2009.
^"Produto Interno Bruto dos Municípios 2002-2005" [Gross Domestic Product of Municipalities 2002-2005] (PDF) (in Portuguese). Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). December 19, 2007. Retrieved December 17, 2009.
^da Silva, Germano; César, Carlos Ari (2008). "Rumo errado" [Wrong direction]. O rastro da bruxa: história da aviação comercial brasileira no século XX através dos seus acidentes 1928-1996 [The witch's trail: history of Brazilian commercial aviation in the 20th century through its accidents 1928-1996] (in Portuguese) (2 ed.). Porto Alegre: EDIPUCRS. pp. 352–360. ISBN978-85-7430-760-2.
Brazil
