Cap 232 N232DG

Summary

On 23 April 2001 at about 17:45 local time, a Cap 232 registered N232DG was involved in an accident near Laporte, Texas, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

23 April 2001 at 17:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Laporte, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Laporte Minucipal (T41)

Coordinates

29.6593, -95.0392

Aircraft

Cap 232

Registration

N232DG

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Laporte → Atlanta

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW01LA102

Nobody was injured.

Failure of the brake system during taxi. A contributing factor was the pilot's decision to continue taxiing after discovering the brakes were not functioning normally.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot boarded the experimental acrobatic aircraft after completion of an annual inspection, started the engine, and began to taxi from the ramp. About half-way down the taxiway, she noticed that she was using "a lot" of power to taxi downwind. During the taxi, the "brakes seemed to be okay" as they assisted directional control "normally" during turns. The pilot then stopped and turned into the wind to see if the parking brake was engaged. The brake handle was not "out" (on) so she pulled it out and tapped the brakes several times to release it. After calling on UNICOM frequency for assistance, she started to taxi back to the hangar. Just prior to reaching the ramp, the right brake failed. The aircraft turned left and the pilot stopped the aircraft. As airport personnel approached the aircraft, the pilot shut down the engine and saw smoke coming from the right side of the aircraft. She exited the aircraft and attempted to use a fire extinguisher on the wheel that was in flames. The fire did not extinguish, so both she and the airport personnel backed away as the aircraft was consumed by the fire. The fire damage was too extensive to discern specific anomalies with the normal and parking brake systems.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.