19970327014469I

Narrative: on landing at Marco Island Airport, Mr. Gerber, owner and pilot of a Mooney M20J airplane N201VY, applied brakes and realized that the brakes had failed. As he approached the end of the runway, he tried to avoid running off the end and into the lake, so he made a left turn. When he made the left turn, a Cessna citation was being refueled by a fuel truck. He struck the right side of the fuel truck with the left wing causing the airplane to spin around to the front of the truck. The propeller struck the grille of the truck, damaging the grille and bending the propeller at the tips, then stopped when it struck the bumper. Mr. Mark prince, a mechanic from and chief inspector of naples air center, and I inspected the brake reservoir which was empty. We also checked for fluid around the reservoir, in the wheel wells and under the belly of the airplane and there were no stains that would identify leaks. Checks showed that the right brake was good, and the left had no stopping action. No one was injured in this incident, but the airplane had the left wing dented in two places. The forward outboard leading edge, approximately two feet from the wing-tip of the airplane, was pushed in causing the skin to break. The leading edge forward of left main gear, approximately three feet from the fuselage, is slightly dented and separation at the seam. Both blades on the propeller were bent and twisted from striking the grille and the bumper. The propeller will have to be replaced and the engine torn down due to sudden stoppage.