Airliner crashes in Brazil

Press, 14 April 1980, Page 1

Airliner crashes in Brazil

, NZPA Florianopolis, Brazil A Brazilian airliner with ■ 58 people aboard crashed ; in a rainstorm and exploded ■ in flames last evening just ; before it was scheduled to I land in Florianopolis, a I southern coastal city, said • a spokesman for the Brazj ilian Air Force. Bad weather and darkj ness hampered rescue work I and prevented a final count ■ of the victims on the dom- ; estic flight, he said. • A spokesman for the air- ! line, Trans Brasil, said he ' had had reports that at ' least eight people survived i the crash, but Air Force • rescue workers said they ■ had found only four sur- ’ vivors. Neither the Air Force "nor the airline could immediately say what caus- ‘ 'ed the crash of the plane, a Boeing 727. ,

Transbrasil released a : list of those aboard which that all 50 pas- ■ sengers and eight crew ! members were Brazilians.

The plane was on its , idaily three - stop flight .from the northern coastal '■ city of Fortaleza to Porto ■ Alegre, 54801 cm (3400 ; miles) away at the far ! southern tip of Brazil. T I An‘ airline spokesman said it was en route from the northern city of Sao 1 Paolo, Brazil’s largest, ' when it crashed at 8.38 1 pan. (11.38 N.Z.S.T.) 1 Florianopolis, a moun- ! tain-ringed state capital of ! 150,000 people, is located ’ on an island in the South • Atlantic