Piper PA 34-200 N56755

Summary

On 25 April 2014 at about 23:25 local time, a Piper PA 34-200 registered N56755, operated by United Flight Systems Inc, was involved in an accident near Spring, Texas, United States. 4 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

25 April 2014 at 23:25

Classification

Accident

Location

Spring, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

David Wayne Hooks Memorial (DWH)

Coordinates

30.0633, -95.5531

Aircraft

Piper PA 34-200

Registration

N56755

Category

Airplane

Year built

1973

Engines

2

Operator

United Flight Systems Inc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Spring → Spring

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN14LA220

Nobody was injured.

The loss of right brake effectiveness during landing for reasons that could not be determined based on the available evidence, which resulted in a loss of directional control.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor was flying the airplane and demonstrating a short-field landing during the instructional flight. The flight instructor reported that, after the airplane touched down about 90 mph, the right brake pedal went full forward, and the brakes were not slowing the airplane. He pumped the brake pedal several times to build pressure in the lines but was not successful. The pilot receiving instruction checked his brake pedals and confirmed that the right brake was not working. The flight instructor then shut down both engines when the airspeed was about 60 mph and subsequently lost directional control of the airplane. The airplane then drifted off the left side of the runway and impacted a ditch, which resulted in substantial damage to the lower aft fuselage and lower forward empennage. An examination of the brakes the day after the accident did not reveal any problems with the right brake; however, it could not be determined whether the brake system had been serviced or repaired following the accident. A photograph of skid marks on the runway showed that the skid marks for the left main landing gear (MLG) tire seemed to be darker than the skid marks for the right MLG tire. The evidence indicates that the right brake likely lost effectiveness during the landing, which resulted in a loss of directional control; however, the reason for the brake's loss of effectiveness could not be determined.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.