The present work analyses experimentally and numerically the failure limit of a 2024-T3 aluminium alloy sheet subjected to stretching. The capability of a number of ductile fracture criteria to predict sheet failure is examined and compared with experimental results. The influence of the hydrostatic pressure in the Freudenthal's, the Cockcroft and Latham's and the Bressan and Williams' criterion is analyzed. The effect of the normal stress on the fracture plane in the Bressan and Williams' criterion is also discussed.