Cessna 172 N63541

Summary

On 4 July 2003 at about 18:46 local time, a Cessna 172 registered N63541 was involved in an accident near Seldovia, Alaska, United States. 3 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

4 July 2003 at 18:46

Classification

Accident

Location

Seldovia, Alaska, United States

Nearest airport

Seldovia (SOV)

Coordinates

59.4486, -151.7067

Aircraft

Cessna 172

Registration

N63541

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Anchorage → Seldovia

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC03LA069

Nobody was injured.

The failure of company maintenance personnel to properly maintain the airplane's brake system, which resulted in a loss of the right brake during landing roll due to a chafed brake line.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot was landing a wheel-equipped airplane on a 1,845-foot long by 60-foot wide, gravel-covered runway. During the landing roll, he applied heavy braking to slow the airplane. The pilot said as the airplane tracked down the centerline of the runway for about 900 feet, the right hand brake pedal "just went flat", and the airplane veered to the left, towards an occupied airplane that was stopped on an adjacent taxiway. When the brake pedals were released, the airplane realigned with the runway centerline. As the airplane neared the end of the runway, the pilot applied full left brake in an attempt to stop the airplane before reaching the end of the runway. The airplane veered sharply to the left, continued off the left side of the runway and down an embankment. The airplane's right wing struck the ground and sustained structural damage. A postaccident inspection revealed that a 6-inch section of the aluminum hydraulic brake line tubing, which is covered by the right main landing gear's fiberglass fairing assembly, had chafed through about mid-span between the fuselage and right wheel assembly. Additionally, no hydraulic brake fluid was found in the right hydraulic brake reservoir. Prior to the accident, and in accordance with the manufacturer's recommended inspection intervals, the operator would remove the fiberglass fairing assembly and inspect the aluminum hydraulic brake line tubing every 400 hours, or during the airplane's annual inspection. As a result of the accident, and due to the high hourly utilization of the rental/instruction airplanes in the operator's fleet, the operator now removes the fiberglass fairing assembly to inspect the aluminum hydraulic brake line tubing during each 100-hour inspection.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.