20190527005229A

On may 27, 2019 at approximately 1000 EST, N1797E, a tail wheeled Aeronca 7AC airplane conducting a part 91 flight, was involved in an accident at coordinates 33°02?37? North and 84°25?55? West. On board the aircraft at the time of the accident was only the pilot who reported to have no injuries as a result. At the accident scene, the pilot was given the compliance philosophy and airman rights brochure that identified the nature of the investigation was due to N1797E?s accident. Pilot stated that he had taken off from Windrift Aerodrome (2GA5) for a short flight and returned for landing at the same runway with the intentions of making a left hand turn and taking off again. During the landing roll out phase, the pilot claimed he applied pressure to the left brake to make his planned left hand turn but the brake did not seem to respond. The pilot then decided to tap the right brake in an attempt to troubleshoot a possible brake malfunction. After tapping the right brake, the pilot stated that the airplane began to veer to the right so he immediately released the brake but the right brake locked up and would not disengage. The airplane continued to veer to the right with enough speed to clear over a small ditch, which runs parallel next to the runway, crossed over a dirt road (collier road) and immediately entered a small opening between two trees. Fortunately, the opening was wide enough to keep the airplane?s fuselage and pilot from receiving any direct damage from the trees. Unfortunately, the airplane?s wingspan length exceeded the opening and as a result the wings collided with the tree on the right and left. The damage included the right wing almost being completely severed at approximately a foot inboard of the right hand aileron and the left wing being completely crumpled with the wing severed from the leading edge back to where the left hand aileron?s leading inboard edge begins. The force of the impact caused both wings to be folded back to the point that the wing tips lay next to the airplane?s horizontal stabilizer. The pilot was forced to crawl out the left hand window due to the right hand door being jammed closed by the damaged wing. Due to the extensive damage to the wings, a fuel leak occurred but no fire ensued. N1797E?s owner stated at the scene that she had flown the airplane since the annual and she had experienced no problems with the brakes but the airplane did have a history of brake issues. At the scene of the accident, the pilot could not provide a pilot?s license or medical certificate so the pilot?s driver?s license was used for identification. N1797E?s last annual was completed on may 07, 2019 with a tachometer time of 616.97 hours and an aircraft total time of approximately 3061.6 hours. On June 20, 2019 an inspection was performed on N1797E?s brakes. An operational check of the brakes revealed no discrepancies but after the brake disassembly, a slow hydraulic leak from the right hand caliper seal was discovered. As a result, it appeared that the hydraulic fluid had transferred to the brake pads and had started to accumulate on the brake disc but no other abnormalities were found.