What happened
On November 21, 2014, an Neiva EMB-201, registration PT-GGW, was performing agricultural spraying operations near Santa Isabel do Ivaí, Paraná. The aircraft departed from a rural landing strip at approximately 09:45 UTC. After roughly 20 minutes of flight, the pilot experienced engine irregularities, specifically fluctuations in RPM. Despite attempting to switch fuel tanks and activating the auxiliary fuel pump, the engine failed.
During the subsequent emergency landing in a pasture, the aircraft's landing gear struck a fence. The momentum of the landing caused the aircraft to collide with a tree, resulting in substantial damage to the left wing. The pilot escaped the occurrence without injury.
The investigation
The investigation by SERIPA V faced significant obstacles due to the operator's failure to report the accident. Authorities only became aware of the occurrence through third parties in August 2015. Initially, the operator denied that an accident had occurred, later claiming the event was merely a fuel exhaustion incident.
Investigators discovered that the aircraft had been removed from the accident site and transported to a maintenance facility without authorization from the CENIPA investigation authority. Furthermore, the aircraft had been completely disassembled, and the left wing fuel tank skin had been replaced. The investigation also revealed that the engine and propeller from PT-GGW had been removed and installed into another aircraft owned by the same operator. Because the scene was disturbed and the aircraft was repaired without ANAC authorization, the investigation was officially terminated as it could no longer provide new safety knowledge.
Findings
- The operator failed to notify the authorities of the accident at the time of occurrence.
- Unauthorized structural repairs were performed on the aircraft without permission from ANAC.
- Maintenance records for the airframe, engine, and propeller were not up to date, with the last entries dating back to October 2007.
- The flight was not recorded in the aircraft's logbook.
- The removal of the aircraft from the site violated Brazilian Aeronautical Code regulations regarding the preservation of evidence.