4th grossing movie of the year in France.
The plane used for the movie was indeed a plane of the then-existent "Pan Air do Brasil". Registration was PP-PDS. This plane was flown later on by a freight airline and is now written off. It remains more or less wrecked at Iquitos, Peru.
Unofficially, this movie was heavily influenced by the Belgian cartoonist, Hergé and the Tintin adventures which he authored. Many specific plot points can be traced directly to specific Tintin books, and the general pacing of the story and certain visuals are all clearly inspired by Hergé's work.