On 30 January 1979, the Boeing 707-323C serving the flight disappeared while en route.

[4] The flight crew consisted of Captain Gilberto Araújo da Silva, 55, First Officer Erni Peixoto Mylius, 45, Second Officers Antonio Brasileiro da Silva Neto, 39, Evan Braga Saunders, 37, and Flight Engineers José Severino Gusmão de Araújo, 42, and Nicola Exposito, 40.

[5] In 1973, Captain Araújo da Silva was the Captain of Varig Flight 820, a Boeing 707 carrying 134 people that crashed before it was due to land at Orly Airport in Paris, with the loss of 123 passengers and crew.

Radio contact was lost about 200 km (120 mi) ENE of Tokyo.

[7] The cargo included 53 paintings by Manabu Mabe returning from an exhibition in Tokyo, valued at US$1.24 million.