What happened
On July 20, 2019, an Embraer EMB-810C, registration PT-OVL, was conducting a multi-engine transition training flight at Americana Airport (SDAI), Brazil. The flight, operated by EJ Escola de Aeronáutica Ltda, involved an instructor and a student pilot performing touch-and-go maneuvers.
Following two successful touch-and-go landings, the crew performed a single-engine approach, which was the student's first time practicing this specific maneuver. After a third landing, as the aircraft began accelerating for a go-around, the nose landing gear unexpectedly retracted while the aircraft was still on the runway. This caused the forward fuselage and the propellers to strike the ground. The aircraft sustained substantial damage, though both occupants escaped without injury.
The investigation
CENIPA investigators examined the aircraft's nose gear assembly and identified a fracture in the Nose Gear Downlock Link Assembly (PN 95829-00). Material analysis conducted by the Department of Aerospace Science and Technology (DCTCA) revealed that the failure was caused by a bending overload, with no evidence of fatigue or corrosion present on the component.
The investigation considered three hypotheses regarding the failure. The first suggested a potential maintenance error during the most recent 100-hour inspection, specifically regarding the adjustment of the part's length. The second hypothesis proposed that previous hard landings, common in flight training environments, may have caused a progressive misalignment of the link assembly. The third hypothesis suggested that the specific single-engine landing maneuver being practiced by the student may have been sufficiently abrupt to trigger the overload fracture.