- Date
- April 11, 2007, 14:30 local (20:30 UTC)
- Place
- Watkins, CO
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1258DCessna 170A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 27, 2007
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA Flight Standards District Office
- FAA report
- 20070411006589A
- Case key
- 65624
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
A total failure during landing roll of the right brake caused by severely worn shoes, causing the caliper pins to engaged misaligned. A contributing factor was the pilot's inability to maintain directional control.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The pilot had been practicing touch-and-go landings. On his final landing, the airplane swerved to the right and the right wing struck the ground, bending the spar. The airplane then departed the runway. According to the FAA airworthiness inspector who examined the airplane, the right brake caliper assembly showed "severely worn shoes with uneven wear." The inspector surmised that when the pilot applied the brakes, the uneven brake shoe wear "caused the caliper pins to engage misaligned, contacting the rotor, locking and shearing the caliper assembly."
Factual narrative
On April 11, 2007, approximately 1430 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 170A, N1258D, piloted by an airline transport-certificated pilot, was substantially damaged when the right brake failed and the airplane veered to the right and departed runway 35 at Front Range Airport (FTG) Watkins, Colorado. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The personal flight was being conducted under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 without a flight plan. The pilot was not injured. The local flight originated approximately 1340.
The pilot had been practicing touch-and-go landings. On his final landing, the airplane swerved to the right and the right wing struck the ground, bending the spar. The airplane then departed the runway. According to the FAA airworthiness inspector who examined the airplane, the right brake caliper assembly showed "severely worn shoes with uneven wear." The inspector surmised that when the pilot applied the brakes, the uneven brake shoe wear "caused the caliper pins to engage misaligned, contacting the rotor, locking and shearing the caliper assembly."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1258D
- Reported as
- Cessna 170A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 19812
- Engine
- Continental 145, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Jade B. Norstrom
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 1, 2006
- Departed
- FTG · Watkins, CO
- Destination
- FTG · Watkins, CO
- Airport
- FTG · Front Range, runway 35, 8,000 × 100 ft, asphalt
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
- 37
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- November 1, 2006
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 7,500 total · 50 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 360° at 7 knots, gusting 16
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 12,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 48 °F, dew point 3 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.78 inHg
- Observed at
- FTG
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.