What happened
On March 1, 2008, an EMB-202A aircraft, registration PT-URR, was conducting agricultural spraying operations near Ivinhema, Mato Grosso do Sul. The aircraft had departed from Fazenda Água Branca to perform herbicide application at Fazenda Nossa Senhora Aparecida. During its third takeoff of the day, the aircraft's landing gear struck high-voltage power lines.
The impact with the wires caused the aircraft to pitch forward abruptly. Due to the low altitude, the pilot was unable to recover from the nose-down attitude before the aircraft struck the ground. The impact caused the engine to detach and the aircraft to catch fire, likely triggered by fuel leaking from the tanks upon contact with the broken electrical wires. The pilot sustained fatal injuries and died at the scene. The aircraft was completely destroyed.
The investigation
CENIPA's investigation focused on why the pilot failed to avoid the wires and why the aircraft's wire-cutting equipment failed to prevent the collision. Investigators found that the engine was producing sufficient power at the time of the impact, and the aircraft was within its specified weight and center of gravity limits. The investigation also examined the terrain, noting that the undulating hills and scattered trees in the cerrado region could have created a visual camouflage effect, making the wires difficult to detect.
Findings
- The pilot's situational awareness may have been reduced due to the routine nature of the flight and a potential shift in focus toward trees in the area.
- The terrain characteristics, specifically the hills, likely hindered the pilot's ability to perceive the wires against the background of the landscape.
- The aircraft was equipped with wire-cutting devices on the main landing gear, but these failed to function as intended, possibly because the wires were stronger than the blades or the impact occurred on a portion of the landing gear not covered by the blades.