- Date
- June 23, 1996, 15:45 local (22:45 UTC)
- Place
- Avalon, CA
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N507THPiper PA-34-200
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 16, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960623014959A
- Case key
- 29480
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 failure of the left brake for undetermined reasons.
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 reported that after touchdown on the runway the left brake failed and he lost directional control. The aircraft veered off the runway and collided with a barbed wire fence. The owner of an aircraft wreckage retrieval firm, who also holds an FAA airframe and powerplant mechanics certificate, was present at the airport when the accident occurred. At the direction of the Safety Board, he examined the aircraft brake system within 10 minutes of the accident. He reported that the left brake disk was cold to the touch, while the right disk was hot. The left brake pedal was stiff and would not move with pressure applied, and the corresponding left brake calipers would not move. The aircraft owner moved the aircraft and repaired it before the brake system could be examined in detail.
Factual narrative
On June 23, 1996, at 1545 hours Pacific daylight time, a Piper PA-34-200, N507TH, collided with a fence following a loss of directional control while landing at the Catalina Island airport. The aircraft was owned and operated by Flight International of Van Nuys, California, and was rented by the pilot for the personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed for the operation. The aircraft and the airport boundary fence sustained substantial damage. The certificated commercial pilot and his two passengers were not injured. The flight originated at Van Nuys on the day of the accident at 1430 as a flight to the island.
In a telephone interview, the pilot reported that after touchdown on the runway the left brake failed and he lost directional control. The aircraft veered off the runway and collided with a barbed wire fence.
The owner of an aircraft wreckage retrieval firm, who also holds an FAA airframe and powerplant mechanics certificate, was present at the airport when the accident occurred. At the direction of the Safety Board, he examined the aircraft brake system within 10 minutes of the accident. He reported that the left brake disk was cold to the touch, while the right disk was hot. The left brake pedal was stiff and would not move with pressure applied, and the corresponding left brake calipers would not move.
The aircraft owner moved the aircraft and repaired it before the brake system could be examined in detail, and declined to produce the maintenance records.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N507TH
- Reported as
- Piper PA-34-200
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 34-7250037
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-C1E6, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Flight International
- Registered owner
- Hamid Navarchi
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · June 22, 1996
- Departed
- VNY · Van Nuys, CA
- Destination
- AVX
- Airport
- AVX · Catalina, runway 22, 3,260 × 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
- 36
- Certificates
- Foreign, Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,355 total · 39 in this make and model · 1,244 as pilot in command · 379 in the last 90 days · 110 in the last 30 days · 7 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.