South County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

San Martin, California 95046
Thursday, August 25, 2005 14:30 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane veered off the left side of the runway and struck trees during the landing rollout. The pilot said that the flight and landing were uneventful, but when he applied brake pressure, the right brake did not have any pressure. The pilot attempted to abort the landing roll, but ran out of runway. Near the end of the runway, the pilot again applied brake pressure and veered off the left side of the runway impacting trees. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector responded to the accident site along with a mechanic and they tested the brake system. According to the inspector, the brakes had equal pressure, but were both spongy and when depressed went to their stops. No leaks were noted in the brake system. According to the pilot, the last annual inspection took place in May 2005 and no anomalies with the airplane were noted since the annual.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's failure to maintain directional control of the airplane during the landing roll. A factor in the accident was the spongy brakes.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/25/2005
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1430
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City San Martin
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 95046
Event Date Year 2005
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 370453N
Event Location Longitude 1213548W
Event Location Airport South County Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID E16
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 281
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 20
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 35
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 180
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 19017
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Aug 25 2005 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jan 31 2006 7:35AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office San Jose, California

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N4366K
NTSB Number LAX05CA280
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Piper
Aircraft Model PA-28-236
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 28-8411025
Certified Max Gross Weight 3011
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection May 1 2005 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name John Giancola
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Gilroy
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 95020
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City --
Operator State --
Operator Country --
Operator Zip code --
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code UDD
Departure City Palm Springs
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1200
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code E16
Destination City San Martin
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - roll
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 8 2005 11:44AM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 14
Runway Length 3100
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --