Ouzts Rodney RUTAN-LONGEZ N622EZ

Summary

On 6 August 2008 at about 18:00 local time, a Ouzts Rodney RUTAN-LONGEZ registered N622EZ, operated by David Rowe, was involved in an accident near Winder, Georgia, 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

6 August 2008 at 18:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Winder, Georgia, United States

Nearest airport

Winder-Barrow Airport (WDR)

Coordinates

33.9828, -83.6672

Aircraft

Ouzts Rodney RUTAN-LONGEZ

Registration

N622EZ

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

David Rowe

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Lawrenceville → Winder

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC08LA273

Nobody was injured.

The failure of the left brake due to contamination of the brake fluid.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot purchased the airplane about 2 years prior to the accident; however, the accident flight was the first time he had flown it. On the day of the accident, the pilot performed about 2 hours of taxi testing and noted no problems with the brakes during taxi or before takeoff. He then performed a flight to a nearby airport and after landing when he applied both brakes, the left rudder/brake pedal at first functioned normally, then "sank to a stop." The aircraft veered to the right, off the edge of the runway, where it struck a runway sign before coming to rest about midfield. About 8 weeks prior to the accident, brake fluid was added to both master cylinders and the pilot performed taxi testing. During the testing, he experienced "softening of the brakes" or less resistance than normal. The pilot subsequently examined the brake system and noticed an area of brake fluid that had "lost color" and had faded from red to pink. Testing of the brake system after the accident revealed the left brake never engaged and the right brake functioned normally. An examination of the brake fluid revealed that the fluid in the line for the left brake was several shades lighter than the fluid in the line for the right brake. Examination of maintenance records revealed the airplane had accumulated 7 hours of total time.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.