Delivered to Varig in October 1974 as PP-VME. Supposed to go to Nacional Transportes Aereos as PR-NAD, but not taken up. Back to Varig in September 2002. Leased to Rico Linhas Aereas in May 2004. Stored at Sao Jose Dos Campos in 2007. Later sold an at auction to a private owner by INFRAERO, disassembled and trucked to a different lcoation. The new owner is an entrepreneur and 737 captain. The aircraft is now used for multiple purposes. Photo by Jonas Correia Pitangueira, who has received his flight attendant training on the aircraft and has kindly allowed me to share his photo here.

On request of several airlines, Boeing pilots had begun training crews regarding the usage of runways with a length up to 1200m (3937ft). The training was done on an old USAF emergency runway in Oregon, which was constructed in 1940. The runway had no provisions at all, except for reflective striping. One of the first crews undergoing this traning was from VARIG. The airline recently took delivery of 10 Boeing 737's that were equipped with the more powerful JT8D-17 engine. This enabled carrying 8-10 extra passengers out of short and high runways in Brazil's hot climate. Photo from Boeing