VASP

VASP Viação Aérea São Paulo

IATA VP ICAO VSP Callsign VASP
Founded	November 4, 1933
Ceased operations	January 27, 2005
Hubs	Congonhas Airport Guarulhos International Airport
Focus cities	none
Frequent-flyer program	none
Airport lounge	none
Alliance	none
Fleet size	0
Destinations	none
Parent company	Viação Aérea São Paulo
Headquarters	Congonhas-São Paulo Airport São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Key people	Wagner Canhedo
Website	Vasp.com.br

Viação Aérea São Paulo S/A, or VASP, was an airline with its head office in the VASP Building on the grounds of Congonhas-São Paulo Airport in São Paulo, Brazil.^[1] It had main bases at Congonhas Airport (CGH) and Guarulhos International Airport (GRU), São Paulo.

Contents 1 History 2 Services 2.1 Services at time of closure 2.2 Services ended before closure 3 Fleet 3.1 1970 4 Accidents and incidents 4.1 Accidents 4.2 Incidents 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

History

The airline was established on November 4, 1933 by the state government of São Paulo and started operations in 1933. VASP was the first airline to serve the interior of the state of São Paulo. At the start of the 1930s, it was the only carrier to operate with land planes. At the time this was a real exploit due to the lack of adequate non-coastal airports. Many landing strips were improvised in flat pastures. This insistence on using only land planes led to the building in 1936 of one of the country’s most important airports, Congonhas, located in the city of São Paulo, far from the coast. During its early years, Congonhas Airport was popularly known as Campo da VASP ("VASP's [Air]field").

In 1939 VASP bought Aerolloyd Iguassu, which included also a license to operate flights to the states of Paraná and Santa Catarina. In 1962 VASP acquired Lóide Aéreo Nacional which had a license to operate nationwide. VASP was therefore able to operate in the entire Brazilian territory.

On July 6, 1959, VASP, Cruzeiro do Sul and Varig initiated the air shuttle services between Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont and São Paulo-Congonhas airports, the first of its kind in the world. The three companies coordinated their schedules, operations, and shared revenue. The service was a direct response to the competition imposed by Real Transportes Aéreos. The idea, baptized as Air bridge (Ponte Aérea in Portuguese), inspired on the Berlin Airlift was so successful that it was abandoned only in 1999.^[2] Flights operated on an hourly basis initially by Convair 240 (Varig), Convair 340 (Cruzeiro) and Saab 90 Scandia (VASP). In a matter of a few months the shuttle service led by Varig won the battle against Real, which was anyway bought by Varig in 1961. Sadia Transportes Aéreos joined the service in 1968. Between 1975 and 1992 it was operated exclusively by Varig's Lockheed L-188 Electra which for sometime and for the sake of neutrality did not have the name Varig on the fuselage.

Although it had been remarkably well-run for most of its life as a state-owned company, by the 1980s VASP was being plagued by inefficiency, losses covered by state capital injections, and a bloated payroll for political reasons. Under the Brazilian government's neoliberal policies newly introduced at the time, VASP was privatized in 1990. A majority stake was bought by the VOE/Canhedo Group, a company formed by the Canhedo Group of Brasília and VASP employees.

Under the command of its new owner and president, Wagner Canhedo, VASP quickly expanded operations in the country, and created international routes, being the second Brazilian company to do so after 1965. However, after many years of mismanagement, financial losses, soaring debt and bad credit, in 2002 it cancelled all of its international operations to concentrate in the domestic market. By that time, VASP had plummeted from the second to the fourth position in the Brazilian airline market, flying an aged fleet of Boeing 737s (most of them of the obsolete -200 series) and Airbus A300s.

The company faced its worst crisis in 2004, which led to the suspension of service to many Brazilian cities and the cancellation of flights. As a result, VASP – once a proud, competitive airline – had its domestic market share reduced to 10%. On 27 January 2005, Brazil's then civil aviation regulator, DAC, grounded the airline from operating scheduled services pending a financial investigation. VASP was allowed to operate charter services until April 2005, giving it a chance to prove its financial stability in order to retain its air operator certificate.

As of December 2007, the company's only activity was providing maintenance services to other airlines (in spite of all of VASP's troubles, its maintenance expertise and personnel never ceased to be held in very high regard). It had been operating under the new Brazilian bankruptcy law since July 2006, and had its recovery plan approved in 27 August 2006. However, in 2008 it declared bankruptcy.

In August 2011, nine of the company's planes (seven Boeing 737-200s and two Airbus A300s), grounded at Congonhas-São Paulo Airport since 2005 and by now badly weathered and dilapidated, began to be dismantled and sold for scrap at auction. Each plane in its current condition was estimated to be worth only 30,000 to 50,000 reais (approximately $20,000 to 33,000 US dollars), considerably less than even its monthly parking and storage fees. The company's fleet of a total of 27 planes had been grounded in similar circumstances since 2005 at various Brazilian airports.

Services

Services at time of closure

VASP operated services to the following domestic scheduled destinations (as of January 2005): Aracaju, Belém, Brasília, Curitiba, Fortaleza, Foz do Iguaçu, Maceió, Manaus, Natal, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, São Luís, São Paulo, Teresina and Porto Alegre.

Services ended before closure

VASP once had a much more extensive network, which covered virtually every major Brazilian city with an airport and in the 1990s included such international destinations as: Buenos Aires, Quito, Miami, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Toronto, Seoul, Casablanca, Barcelona, Brussels, Osaka, Athens, Frankfurt and Zürich.

Fleet

When the airline ceased its operations, its fleet consisted of Airbus A300B2-200, Boeing 727-200F and Boeing 737-200/-300 aircraft.^[3][4]

At the height of its expansion, VASP operated DC-10^[4] and MD-11 aircraft^[5] on its long-haul international routes. The company operated Boeing 737–200 and DC-8 aircraft for freight.^[5]

1970

VASP fleet in 1970 ^[6]

Aircraft	Total	Orders	Notes
BAC One-Eleven 400	2	0
Boeing 737–200	5	0
Douglas DC-3	10	0
Douglas DC-6C	4	0
Vickers Viscount 700	2	0
Vickers Viscount 800	4	0
NAMC YS-11	7	0
Total	34	0

Accidents and incidents

Accidents

• 27 August 1943: a Junkers Ju-52/3mg3e registration PP-SPD flying from Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont to São Paulo-Congonhas struck a building of the Naval Academy located close to the airport shortly after take-off under fog. The aircraft broke in two and one part fell in the water. Of the 21 passengers and crew, three survived.^[7]
• 13 December 1950: a Douglas C-47A-90-DL registration PP-SPT while on initial climb from Londrina lost engine power, crashed and caught fire. There were 3 ground fatalities.^[8]
• 18 May 1951: a Douglas C-47B-45-DK registration PP-SPL en route from Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo to Presidente Prudente hit high ground while flying in bad weather. All 6 passengers and crew died.^[9]
• 8 September 1951: a Douglas C-47B-20-DK registration PP-SPQ struck a house after take-off from São Paulo-Congonhas and crashed. Thirteen passengers and crew and three persons on the ground died.^[10]
• 13 May 1952: a Douglas C-47B-45-DK registration PP-SPM operating a flight from São Paulo-Congonhas to Bauru lost control when carrying out an emergency landing following an engine failure. Two crew members and 3 passengers died.^[11]
• 30 December 1958: a Saab Scandia 90A-1 registration PP-SQE flying from Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont to São Paulo-Congonhas during climb after take-off had a failure on engine no. 1. The pilot initiated procedures to return to the airport but during the second turn the aircraft stalled and crashed into Guanabara Bay. Of the 37 passengers and crew aboard, 21 died.^[12]
• 23 September 1959: a Saab Scandia 90A-1 registration PP-SQV en route from São Paulo-Congonhas to Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont during climb after take-off did not gain enough height and crashed 1 1/2 minutes out of São Paulo killing all 20 passengers and crew.^[13]
• 22 December 1959: a Vickers Viscount 827 registration PP-SRG while on approach to land at Rio de Janeiro-Galeão was involved in a mid-air collision with the Brazilian Air Force Fokker S-11 (T-21) registration FAB0742 in the vicinity of Manguinhos Airport. All 32 people on board the Viscount were killed, as were a further ten on the ground. The T-21 pilot parachuted to safety. This accident eventually led to the closure of Manguinhos Airport^[14][15]
• 26 November 1962: a Saab Scandia 90A-1 registration PP-SRA en route from São Paulo-Congonhas to Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont collided in the air over the Municipality of Paraibuna, State of São Paulo with a private Cessna 310 registration PT-BRQ en route from Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont to São Paulo-Campo de Marte. Both were flying on the same airway AB-6 in opposite directions and failed to have visual contact. The aircraft crashed, killing all 23 passengers and crew of the Saab and four occupants of the Cessna.^[16]
• 4 September 1964: a Vickers Viscount 701C registration PP-SRR, en route from Vitória to Rio de Janeiro collided with a mountain over the location of Nova Friburgo while flying away from the intended track. All 39 passengers and crew died.^[17]
• 3 March 1965: a Vickers Viscount registration PP-SRQ was damaged beyond economic repair at Rio de Janeiro-Galeão International Airport when the aircraft departed the runway during a simulated engine failure on take-off.^[18]
• 31 October 1966: a Vickers Viscount registration PP-SRM was damaged beyond economic repair when it overran the runway at Rio de Janeiro Santos Dumont Airport^[19]
• 15 September 1968: a Vickers Viscount registration PP-SRE crashed at São Paulo while on a crew training flight. One of the two crew was killed.^[20]
• 11 January 1969: a Douglas C-47A PP-SPR was damaged beyond economic repair at Loanda, Paraná.^[21]
• 14 September 1969: a Douglas C-47B-45-DK registration PP-SPP took-off from Londrina but due to a feathered propeller, had to return to the origin. While on approach for landing, the aircraft made a sharp left turn and crashed. All 20 passengers and crew died.^[22]
• 12 April 1972: a NAMC YS-11A-211 registration PP-SMI flying from São Paulo-Congonhas to Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont flew into the side of a mountain while on descent 50km north of Rio de Janeiro due to pilot mistake. All 25 passengers and crew died.^[23]
• 29 January 1973: a Douglas C-47 PP-SQA crashed on landing at Rondonópolis Airport.^[24]
• 15 May 1973: a Vickers Viscount PP-SRD was damaged beyond economic repair when it departed the runway on landing at Salvador Airport and the undercarriage collapsed.^[25]
• 23 October 1973: a NAMC YS-11A-211 registration PP-SMJ flying from Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont to Belo Horizonte-Pampulha during an aborted take-off over-run the runway and slid into Guanabara Bay. Of the 65 passengers and crew, 8 passengers died.^[26]
• 27 February 1975: an Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante registration PP-SBE operating a flight from São Paulo-Congonhas to Bauru crashed after take-off from Congonhas. All 2 crew members and 13 passengers died.^[27]
• 25 May 1982: a Boeing 737-2A1 registration PP-SMY on landing procedures at Brasília during rain, made a hard landing with nose gear first. The gear collapsed and the aircraft skidded off the runway breaking in two. Two passengers out of 118 occupants died.^[28]
• 8 June 1982: a Boeing 727-212 registration PP-SRK operating flight 168 from Rio de Janeiro-Galeão to Fortaleza collided with a mountain while on approach to Fortaleza. The captain descended below a minimum descent altitude. All 137 passengers and crew died.^[29]
• 28 January 1986: a Boeing 737-2A1 registration PP-SME flying from São Paulo-Guarulhos to Belo Horizonte unknowingly tried to take-off from Guarulhos under foggy conditions from a taxiway. The take-off was aborted, but the aircraft overran, collided with a dyke and broke in two. One passenger died.^[30]
• 22 June 1992: a cargo Boeing 737-2A1C registration PP-SND en route from Rio Branco to Cruzeiro do Sul crashed in the jungle while on arrival procedures to Cruzeiro do Sul. The crew of 2 and 1 occupant died.^[31]

Incidents

• 25 April 1970: a Boeing 737-2A1 en route from Brasília to Manaus-Ponta Pelada was hijacked by a person who demanded to be flown to Cuba. The hijack lasted a day.^[32]
• 14 May 1970: a Boeing 737-2A1 en route from Brasília to Manaus-Ponta Pelada was hijacked by a person who demanded to be flown to Cuba. The hijack lasted a day.^[33]
• 22 February 1975: a Boeing 737-2A1 registration PP-SMU en route from Goiânia to Brasília was hijacked by 1 person who demanded ramson. The hijacker was taken down.^[34]
• 29 September 1988: a Boeing 737-300 registration PP-SNT operating flight 375 en route from Porto Velho to Rio de Janeiro via Brasília, Goiânia and Belo Horizonte-Confins was hijacked by 1 person on the final leg of the flight. The hijacker wanted to force a crash on the Palácio do Planalto, the official presidential workplace in Brasília. The pilot convinced the hijacker to divert to Goiânia where an emergency landing was made. The hijack ended with 1 victim.^[35][36]
• 18 August 2000: a Boeing 737-2A1 registration PP-SMG en route from Foz do Iguaçu to Curitiba-Afonso Pena and on to Rio de Janeiro-Galeão, Brasília, and São Luís, was hijacked by 5 persons with the purpose of robbing BRL 5 million (approximately USD 2.75 Million) that the aircraft was transporting. The pilot was forced to land at Porecatu where the hijackers fled with the money. There were no victims.^[37][38]

See also

• Saab 90 Scandia

References

External links

• VASP accidents as per Aviation Safety Network
• Archive of VASP pages (English) (1998–2000)
• Archive of VASP pages (Portuguese)
• VASPEX (Archive) (Portuguese)

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