Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Habersham County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Cornelia, Georgia 30523
Thursday, March 22, 2007 18:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane veered off a taxiway and collided with trees after landing. The certified flight instructor (CFI) stated he was conducting a training flight with a new student. A preflight inspection was completed and no anomalies were noted except for a low nose wheel tire which was corrected. They departed the airport and flew north of the airport and completed some air work before returning back to the airport to do some landings. The student pilot made a normal landing to runway 24. The CFI felt the student pilot apply some brakes and informed the student pilot to maintain directional control with the rudder only. The student pilot complied with his instructions, taxied the airplane to the end of runway 24, and turned left onto the taxiway. Another airplane was on the parallel to the runway 24 taxiway. The CFI instructed the student pilot to stop the airplane after clearing the runway. The airplane went further than the CFI wanted it to go and the CFI instructed the student pilot to apply brakes. The CFI applied brakes and the airplane would not stop. The CFI applied the emergency brake and the airplane would not stop. The CFI pulled the mixture to the cut off position and attempted to stop the airplane on the lip of the edge of the taxiway. The airplane did not stop and went down an embankment and collided with some trees. The registered owner and operator of the airplane informed the FAA that the brake system had been serviced a week before the accident by adding brake fluid to the brake system. Review of the airframe logbook revealed no entry had been entered into the logbook pertaining to the servicing of the brake system. A functional test of the brake system was performed by the FAA inspectors who tried to push the airplane with the parking brake engaged. In addition, one FAA inspector got in the airplane's left front seat and applied brakes and then in the right front seat and applied brakes as the other FAA pushed the airplane, and the airplane continued to move in each test. The brake pads and rotors were visually inspected and no anomalies were noted. Visual inspection of the master cylinder found that brake fluid was leaking onto the exterior of the master cylinder components, as evidenced by the staining of dried hydraulic fluid. The carpet near the pilot's (left front seat) rudder pedals were saturated with brake fluid and there were indications of some recently spilled brake fluid which had a reddish color. In addition, brake fluid stains that were brownish in color were observed.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the owner/operator to repair or replace a known leaking brake system components resulting in a total loss of brakes while taxing and an on-ground collision with trees.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/22/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1800 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Cornelia |
| Event State | GEORGIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 30523 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 342950N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0833324W |
| Event Location Airport | Habersham County Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KAJR |
| 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 | 1447 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1953 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 250 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KGVL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1275 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 19 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 30 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 250 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.25 |
| 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) | 21560 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Communication Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 23 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 27 2007 1:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | College Park FSDO-11 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N46567 |
| NTSB Number | ATL07CA058 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 172K |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17257355 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2500 |
| 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 | Apr 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 6981 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | James H. Tatum |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 371 Park Place Circle |
| Aircraft Owner City | Cornelia |
| Aircraft Owner State | GA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 30531 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | KAJR |
| Departure City | Cornelia |
| Departure State | GA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1750 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | KAJR |
| Destination City | Cornelia |
| Destination State | GA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Taxi - from landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 25 2008 10:55AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\HAMG |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 24 |
| Runway Length | 5500 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |