Piper PA-25-235 N9890P

Summary

On 5 June 2001 at about 21:45 local time, a Piper PA-25-235 registered N9890P was involved in an accident near Blakely, Georgia, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

5 June 2001 at 21:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Blakely, Georgia, United States

Nearest airport

Private Airstrip

Coordinates

31.3306, -84.9406

Aircraft

Piper PA-25-235

Registration

N9890P

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Blakely → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ATL01LA065

1 person was seriously injured.

The pilot's inadequate in-flight decision to go-around after a reported loss of right brake pressure during the landing roll resulted in the in-flight collision with trees.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot had flown to a nearby field to apply fertilizer but elected to return to the airstrip behind his home due to thunderstorm activity in the immediate vicinity of the planned spray operation. Upon arriving at the home airstrip, the pilot established an approach to land on runway 15. After touchdown, the pilot reported that he applied both brakes to stop the airplane. During the braking action the right brake suddenly failed. He stated he was unable to stop the airplane with the left brake. With approximately 800 feet of runway surface remaining, the pilot elected to abort the landing and chose to take off. During the attempted takeoff, the airplane cleared a fence and flew under power lines. The airplane collided with trees approximately 500 feet from the runway as the pilot maneuvered to avoid a collision with his home. After the airplane collided with the trees, it rolled inverted, fell to the ground, and burst into flames. Examination of the airplane wreckage revealed that the airframe sustained extensive fire damage. Reportedly, the fire destroyed the right wheel brake assembly and it was not functionally examined. According to Piper 25-235 performance data, at the landing and stall speed of 46 mph, the landing roll at gross weight is about 850 feet.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.