Varig from the assets of Condor Syndikat. This aircraft, named "Atlântico", was also the first aircraft registered in Brazil as P-BAAA. Operations started on with a flight from Porto Alegre to Rio Grande via Pelotas. Varig inherited the route rights from Condor Syndikat which since had operated the service. VARIG slowly but consistently in spite of difficulties added aircraft and destinations to its network initially focusing on the state of Rio Grande do Sul. On Varig began its first international route from Porto Alegre to Montevideo using its de Havilland DH 89 Dragon Rapide. On 1941, as the United States declared
American Airlines Flight 77 had already crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center and Flight 175 was known to have been hijacked and was within minutes of striking the South Tower. After learning of this second hijacking involving an American Airlines aircraft and the hijacking involving United Airlines, American Airlines' executive vice president Gerard Arpey ordered a nationwide ground stop for the airline. The Indianapolis Air Traffic Control Center, as well as American Airlines dispatchers, made several failed attempts to contact the aircraft. At the time the airplane was hijacked, it was flying over an area of limited radar coverage. With