What happened
On January 9, 2010, an EMB-810C, registration PT-EVH, was operating a flight from Eduardo Gomes, AM, to Lábrea, AM, carrying a pilot and two passengers. During the flight, the aircraft landed at an uncertified aerodrome in Canutama, AM.
While taxiing on the runway, the aircraft encountered a depression in the terrain. The impact of the wheel against this depression caused the nose gear lock to fail, resulting in the retraction of the nose landing gear. As the gear retracted, the propeller struck the ground, causing a sudden engine stoppage and resulting in severe damage to the left engine and propeller, as well as light damage to the lower nose fairings. The pilot and all passengers were uninjured.
The investigation
CENIPA investigators determined that the nose gear lock had broken due to stress induced by the impact with the terrain depression. The investigation revealed that the aircraft was operating near its maximum takeoff weight and that the maintenance schedule had been exceeded; the aircraft was 24 flight hours past its scheduled 50-hour inspection.
Furthermore, the investigation highlighted organizational irregularities. The operator, while registered as a water transport company for tourism, was using the aircraft for casual air transport without standardized planning or passenger/cargo records. The pilot also intentionally landed at an uncertified aerodrome, a practice that had occurred in a previous incident involving the same operator forty days prior.
Findings
- Inadequate flight planning, as the pilot chose to land at an uncertified aerodrome with precarious infrastructure.
- Flight indiscipline regarding the intentional use of a non-homologated landing site.
- Maintenance oversight, as the aircraft was operating beyond its scheduled inspection interval, which might have identified the fatigue in the nose gear lock.
- Operational risk, due to the aircraft operating near its maximum weight limits and the lack of standardized operational procedures for the tourism transport activity.