After three plane crashes with the agricultural model since December – one of them documented in video, the ag aviation entity points out neglect and sent this Tuesday extrajudicial notification to the manufacturer to hear the sector

Dereliction of duty about the lives of pilots and with the entire ag aviation industry. This is how the president of the Brazilian Union of Agricultural Aviation Companies (Sindag), Thiago Magalhães Silva, classifies Embraer’s stance, after a videoconference late this Monday afternoon (17) with directors of the aircraft manufacturer. The meeting also involved most of the Board of Directors of Sindag and the objective was to discuss effective solutions for the risk of breaking the wings of the Ipanema agricultural plane in flight, in the face of a series of accidents that occurred in recent months with the model – killing pilots.

Faced with what the ag aviation directors classified as disdain on the part of the manufacturer regarding the sector’s concern, the entity felt this Tuesday (18) an extrajudicial notification to the Embraer Board of Directors and to the Audit, Risks and Ethics Committee of the manufacturer of aircraft. The document request the company to comment within 15 days on the seven proposals presented by the SINDAG at the meeting this Monday.

The list ranges from the creation of a direct channel with the factory for Ipanema aircraft operators to engineering work to propose a definitive solution to the problem, among other points. The objective is to draw the company’s attention to the seriousness of the situation regarding its own product. And demand more firmly a proactive posture for the safety of pilots and support personnel.

With 206 members, Sindag covers around 90% of the ag aviation companies operating in Brazil. The Ipanema model has been manufactured by Embraer since the 1970s, is currently in its seventh generation – versions EMB 200 to EMB 203, and represents more than 50% of the national agricultural fleet (which is the second largest in the world). However, a new series of accidents with evidence of loss of the wing in mid-flight since the end of 2021 has shaken the sector’s confidence in the model.

DISAPPOINTMENT

The director points out that the ag aviation businessmen left the web meeting on Monday disappointed. On behalf of Embraer, the meeting involved the directors of the Government Relations, Botucatu Unit (where Ipanema is manufactured, in Botucatu, São Paulo) and Product areas. “We had been trying to have an emergency meeting, in direct contact with Embraer directors. Planes crashing, people dying and the only answer was that they were on vacation and dealt with later. Only after we accessed, by Linkedin, the president of the company, did the meeting take place”, says Magalhães.

In one of the aircraft accidents (on December 5), in Lagoa da Confusão, Tocantins), the event was filmed and the images circulated on social networks and on the news. At the time, the pilot of an Ipanema EMB 201 was doing a test flight, dropping water on the runway. The objective was to evaluate the behavior of the aircraft with its normal load, as it had just returned from an overhaul. Shortly after launch, the plane’s left wing broke and it crashed into a rice paddy. The pilot was soon rescued and survived with some fractures and dislocations. The aircraft had all the maintenance up to date, including the periodic check of the wing spars.

Possible wing breakages are also associated with two other later accidents, this time with deaths. One of them on January 8, in Sorriso (state of Mato Grosso), resulted in the death of the pilot. The other fatal accident with an Ipanema was last Friday (14th), in Cafelândia (São Paulo).

Since 2013, Ipanema planes manufactured in the 1970s (versions EMB-200, EMB-200A, EMB-201 and EMB-201A) already had to undergo periodic inspection of the wing spar and its attachment to the fuselage, ensuring no corrosion or cracks. In 2015, the Brazilian Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) itself published an Airworthiness Directive (DA) including in the revision list also the EMB-202 and EMB-202A models (manufactured from 1991 and 2004, respectively). This was due to six accidents where the loss of the wing in flight was proven to be the cause.

FRAGILITY: Since 2013, the Ipanema models EMB-200, EMB-200A, EMB-201 and EMB-201A are required to undergo periodic inspections of wing spars, due to cases of breakage. As of 2015, an ANAC Directive also included the EMB-202 and EMB-202A (pictured) models , manufactured respectively from 1991 and 2004. Among SINDAG’s claims (in the face of possible cases of breakage within this period of validity), is the search for a definitive engineering solution to the problem.