Varig Flight 254 crashes in the Amazon rainforest near São José do Xingu in Brazil, killing 12.

Varig Flight 254 was a Boeing 737-241, c/n 21006/398, registration PP-VMK, on a scheduled passenger flight from São Paulo, Brazil, to Belém, capital city of the state of Pará in the country's North Region, on 3 September 1989. The flight had several intermediate stopovers, the last being in Marabá, Pará. Prior to takeoff from Marabá, the crew entered an incorrect heading into the flight computer, flying deep into a remote area of the Amazon jungle. Attempts to reach an alternative airport were unsuccessful and the plane eventually ran out of fuel, crashing during a belly landing in the jungle 1,700 kilometres northwest of Rio de Janeiro. Of the 54 passengers and crew, 12 passengers died and many more sustained serious injuries. The survivors were rescued two days later.

The Amazon rainforest, also called the Amazon jungle or Amazonia, is a moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. This basin encompasses 7 million km² (2.7 million sq mi), of which 6 million km² (2.3 million sq mi) are covered by the rainforest. This region includes territory belonging to nine nations and 3,344 indigenous territories.

São José do Xingu is a municipality in the state of Mato Grosso, in the Central-West Region of Brazil.

September 3 is the 246th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 119 days remain until the end of the year.