- Date
- August 9, 2008, 11:17 local (16:17 UTC)
- Place
- Waukegan, IL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1289RBellanca 17-30A
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 29, 2008
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20080809843209A
- Case key
- 68760
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's inability to maintain directional control of the airplane following a failure of the right brake.
Findings · 4
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot stated he made a normal landing, touching down on the centerline, just past the runway threshold. He stated that he applied the toe brakes to turn off onto a taxiway and discovered there was no pressure on the right brake. The pilot stated he released the brakes as the airplane began to veer off the left side of the runway. Construction was taking place on the airport taxiways and the pilot applied hard left brake to avoid hitting a construction worker and construction equipment. The airplane turned left contacting a taxiway light and an 8-inch high concrete pillar with 3-foot high pieces of steel rebar sticking up from it. The pilot stated the brakes functioned properly prior to the accident landing. Post accident inspection of the airplane revealed there was no pressure in the right brake master cylinder. The last annual inspection of the airplane was November 6, 2006.
Factual narrative
On August 9, 2008, at 1117 central daylight time, a Bellanca 17-30A, N1289R, collided with construction material following a loss of directional control while landing on runway 23 (6,000 feet by 150 feet) at the Waukegan Regional Airport (UGN), Waukegan, Illinois. The pilot was not injured and the airplane received substantial damage to the right wing. The Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight was operating in visual meteorological conditions. No flight plan was filed for the cross country flight. The flight originated from Bedford, Indiana, at 1035 eastern daylight time.
The pilot stated that he purchased the airplane last fall and that the purpose of the flight was to move the airplane to Alexandria, Minnesota, for an annual inspection. He reported he departed the Cherokee County Airport, Canton, Georgia, and flew to Bedford, Indiana, without any problem. He then departed Bedford and was making a planned stop at Waukegan when the accident occurred.
The pilot stated he made a normal landing on runway 23, touching down on the centerline, just past the runway threshold. He stated that he applied the toe brakes to turn off on taxiway Bravo and discovered there was no pressure on the right brake. The pilot stated he released the brakes as the airplane began to veer off the left side of the runway.
He stated there was construction taking place on the airport taxiways and he applied hard left brake to avoid hitting a construction worker and construction equipment. The airplane turned left and contacted a taxiway light and an 8-inch high concrete pillar with 3-foot high pieces of steel rebar sticking up from it. The pilot stated the brakes functioned properly up until the accident landing.
Post accident inspection of the airplane by an inspector from the Federal Aviation Administration Flight Standards District Office in West Chicago, Illinois revealed there was no pressure in the right brake master cylinder.
The last annual inspection of the airplane was November 6, 2006.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1289R
- Reported as
- Bellanca 17-30A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 30417
- Engine
- Continental IO-520, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Jeffrey A. Szorik
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- BFR · Bedford, IN
- Destination
- UGN · Waukegan, IL
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 45
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Flight hours
- 165 total · 15 in this make and model · 124 as pilot in command · 4 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 40° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.06 inHg
- Observed at
- UGN
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.