On 19 November 1977, the Boeing 727 operating the service overran the airport's runway before crashing onto the nearby beach and exploding, killing 131 of the 164 people on board.

[1][2] The aircraft involved was a Boeing 727-282 Advanced registered as CS-TBR named after the Portuguese aviation pioneer Sacadura Cabral.

According to the forecast, severe weather was expected enroute with a chance of thunderstorm cumulus and torrential rain, but was unlikely to affect the flight.

[3]: 4 At the time of the accident, the then-Santa Catarina International Airport's runway was 1,600 m (5,250 ft) long, which made landing extremely difficult.

At 9:05:50, the crew reported on the beginning of the descent to FL50 towards Porto Santo, and received instructions to switch to 118.1 MHz to communicate with Funchal control.

At 9:17pm the crew contacted air traffic control in Funchal and reported reaching flight level 50 and the ETA at the MAD radio beacon in 5 minutes.

While on final approach to runway 24 in heavy rain, strong winds and poor visibility, the aircraft touched down 2,000 feet (610 m) past the threshold, and started hydroplaning.

Due to limitations in the Airport's electrical installation at the time, either the VASI system or the aiming point indicator could be turned on, but not both simultaneously.

[3]: 29  Difficult weather conditions were mentioned as the immediate causes of the accident, due to aquaplaning on the runway, as well as an overshoot landing speed of 19 knots.

Following the 2000 extension, the runway of what is now the Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport measures 2,781 metres (9,124 ft) long and is capable of handling wide-body commercial jets like the Boeing 747 or the Airbus A340.