Cessna 140A N5314C

Summary

On 26 April 2013 at about 19:15 local time, a Cessna 140A registered N5314C was involved in an accident near Newburgh, New York, 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

26 April 2013 at 19:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Newburgh, New York, United States

Nearest airport

Stewart International Airport (SWF)

Coordinates

41.5056, -74.0983

Aircraft

Cessna 140A

Registration

N5314C

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Newburgh → Newburgh

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA13LA224

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s failure to maintain directional control when the brakes bound and a subsequent ground loop. Contributing to the accident was the inadequate maintenance of the brakes by the pilot/owner.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During the landing, the pilot/owner adjusted for the left crosswind until the airplane touched down on the runway. He applied the left brake and rudder to maintain directional control during roll, but the left brake "seemed to lock up," and the airplane ground-looped left. The right tire separated from the right landing gear wheel and burst. A review of the airplane maintenance records revealed that, during the most recent owner-assisted annual inspection, the left-side brake caliper was found seized. It was removed, cleaned, lubricated, reinstalled by the owner, operationally checked, and found to be in airworthy condition. An unsupervised postaccident examination of the left wheel and brake assembly by the owner revealed that the wheel and tire would rotate with some resistance, that the caliper slides were rusty, and that the lubrication applied during the annual inspection did not completely allow the calipers to reliably move freely, which resulted in the brake binding on the final roll.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.