20010922027609A

(-23) The pilot departed huntington, Indiana (hhg) for valley point, WV (WV29). The weather conditions were VMC, however the pilot decided to make a precautionary landing at harding county airport because of a lowering overcast. The pilot reported that, "when touching down found brakes did not apply even." The taxiway is an extension of the runway. Towards the end of the runway at the entry to the taxiway he felt that he was, "going too fast to enter ramp so ran in grass to slowdown to stop." The terrain sloped away from the runway. He went into a grassy swale that began about 20 feet from the edge of the runway and ran perpendicular to it. He dropped the front landing gear over the edge of a metal culvert that drained into the swale. This caused the aircraft to flip end over end. A post accident inspection indicated that the brake system did not function normally. (.4) the pilot had just purchased the airplane and was in the process of ferrying it home when he elected to divert because of en route weather. The pilot maneuvered the airplane for a 4,201-foot long by 75-foot wide runway. The airplane touched down on the first 1/3 of the runway with full flaps an d an indicated airspeed of approximately 70 to 80 mph. The pilot retarded the throttle to idle, and applied the brakes, which caused the airplane to pull from side to side. Fearing that he would not be able to stop the airplane before reaching the end of the runway, he elected to drive it onto a grassy area to the right after departing the runway, the nose wheel struck a culvert, and the airplane nosed over. It was the pilot's first landing in the accident airplane. It was also his first landing in the accident airplane make and model. Winds in the area were approximately 5 knots, from 80 degrees to the left of the runway. After the accident, a mechanic applied the handbrake and then tried to push the airplane. The airplane did not move.