The present paper investigates the effects of variable-amplitude loads on fatigue crack growth rates for the 2024-T3 aluminium alloy on the basis of microfractographic analyses and its capacity to reconstruct load-time histories of failed components. For this purpose, there were applied three different variable-amplitude load sequences with single and multiple overloads and underloads. Subsequently, images of fatigue striations on components’ fracture surfaces were examined. The aforementioned loads were employed when simulating fatigue crack behaviour in aeronautical alloys.