Howard LONG EZ N7999H

Summary

On 14 June 2009 at about 00:50 local time, a Howard LONG EZ registered N7999H, operated by Sullivan Timothy L, was involved in an accident near Placerville, California, United States. One person was 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

14 June 2009 at 00:50

Classification

Accident

Location

Placerville, California, United States

Nearest airport

Placerville Airport (PVF)

Coordinates

38.7242, -120.7531

Aircraft

Howard LONG EZ

Registration

N7999H

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Sullivan Timothy L

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Marysville → Placerville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR09LA287

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's inability to maintain directional control during the landing roll due to a jammed brake cable.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that following an uneventful landing, he applied light pressure to both the left and right brakes. The pilot noted that the left brake was inoperative and the airplane began to veer to the right. Despite the pilot's control inputs, the airplane exited the runway towards a row of stationary airplanes. He applied full right rudder/brake to miss the parked aircraft. Subsequently, the airplane impacted an unoccupied stationary vehicle which resulted in structural damage to both wings and fuselage. Examination of the brake system by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed no anomalies with the left brake master cylinder. The inspector reported that the brake control cable was routed through the middle of a neoprene plastic housing, which was an attachment point for the rear foot pegs. The neoprene plastic housing was attached to an aluminum sliding fixture that was mounted to the interior fuselage structure. A compression sleeve band attached to the brake cable allowed the cable to engage the neoprene plastic housing when forward pressure was applied to the rear foot pegs to actuate the brakes. The inspector stated that a small amount of sideways pressure was applied to the brake cable under the rear cockpit floor. The cable compression sleeve contacted the aluminum sliding fixture. Subsequently, normal pressure was applied to the forward left foot peg with restricted forward movement noted.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.