What happened
On December 5, 2021, an EMB-202A aircraft, registration PT-UZI, was performing an agricultural flight operation near Lagoa da Confusão, Brazil. The aircraft took off from a landing area at Fazenda Bom Jesus to perform a local flight for the purpose of dumping water from its hopper.
During the recovery phase of the maneuver, after passing over the landing area, the right wing of the aircraft separated from the fuselage. The aircraft subsequently collided with the ground, resulting in the total destruction of the airframe. The pilot sustained serious injuries during the impact.
The investigation
CENIPA investigators examined the structural integrity of the aircraft and the flight parameters at the time of the accident. The investigation focused on the condition of the wing spars and the operational limits of the aircraft during the dumping process.
Investigators found that the aircraft's right wing spar had been weakened by fatigue cracks that had propagated to 65% of the resistant section of the lower flange plates without being detected during previous inspections. The investigation also reviewed the maintenance history, noting a previous accident in 2017 involving the same aircraft, and evaluated the effectiveness of the Eddy Current non-destructive testing (NDT) performed on the wing spars.