What happened
On April 30, 2009, an EMB-810C operated by Amazonaves Táxi Aéreo Ltda. departed Eduardo Gomes International Airport (SBEG) in Manaus, Brazil, bound for Itacoatiara. The flight was a scheduled mail transport operation with one pilot and one passenger on board.
Shortly after takeoff, the pilot noticed the left engine (M1) was failing and immediately initiated a return to the airport. During the procedure, the right engine (M2) also began to fail. The pilot declared an emergency and maneuvered the aircraft perpendicular to the runway. The aircraft touched down on wet grass and traveled approximately 200 meters before hitting an asphalt section, which caused the nose gear to collapse. The aircraft came to a stop after traveling an additional ten meters. The aircraft sustained substantial damage to the nose gear and propellers, but there were no fires and the occupants survived without injury.
The investigation
CENIPA investigators examined the sequence of events using radio transcriptions and physical testing. While the pilot initially reported the engine failure, investigators found that the fuel selector valves were in the closed position when the aircraft was inspected after the accident.
To determine when the valves were closed, investigators performed a simulation using an identical aircraft. The test showed that with the valves closed, the engines would only run for approximately 90 seconds at low power (taxi) and 30 seconds at high power (takeoff). Radio transcripts showed that 12 minutes had elapsed between engine start and the emergency landing. Because the engines functioned for over 10 minutes before the pilot reported the first failure, investigators concluded the valves must have been open during the initial climb and were likely closed after the pilot reduced power following the first engine failure. The investigation also noted that an attempt by another company aircraft to establish radio contact during the emergency may have distracted the pilot during the critical troubleshooting phase.
Findings
- The pilot closed the fuel selector valves during the emergency procedures.
- Lack of cockpit coordination during the engine failure sequence.
- Inadequate supervision of pilot training and lack of written records for pilot performance evaluations within the operator's safety management system.