Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Placerville Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Placerville, California 95667
Saturday, June 13, 2009 17:50 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that following an uneventful landing, he applied light pressure to both the left and right brakes. The pilot noted that the left brake was inoperative and the airplane began to veer to the right. Despite the pilot's control inputs, the airplane exited the runway towards a row of stationary airplanes. He applied full right rudder/brake to miss the parked aircraft. Subsequently, the airplane impacted an unoccupied stationary vehicle which resulted in structural damage to both wings and fuselage. Examination of the brake system by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed no anomalies with the left brake master cylinder. The inspector reported that the brake control cable was routed through the middle of a neoprene plastic housing, which was an attachment point for the rear foot pegs. The neoprene plastic housing was attached to an aluminum sliding fixture that was mounted to the interior fuselage structure. A compression sleeve band attached to the brake cable allowed the cable to engage the neoprene plastic housing when forward pressure was applied to the rear foot pegs to actuate the brakes. The inspector stated that a small amount of sideways pressure was applied to the brake cable under the rear cockpit floor. The cable compression sleeve contacted the aluminum sliding fixture. Subsequently, normal pressure was applied to the forward left foot peg with restricted forward movement noted.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inability to maintain directional control during the landing roll due to a jammed brake cable.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/13/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1750 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Placerville |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95667 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 384327N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1204511W |
| Event Location Airport | Placerville Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PVF |
| 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 | 2585 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1750 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 312 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | AUN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1536 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 21 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4100 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4100 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Overcast |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.94 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 26016 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 11 2009 9:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7999H |
| NTSB Number | WPR09LA287 |
| 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 | HOWARD |
| Aircraft Model | LONG EZ |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 721 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1600 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 5 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 7 |
| Airframe Hours | 1239 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SULLIVAN TIMOTHY L |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | PLACERVILLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95667-5540 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | SULLIVAN TIMOTHY L |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | PLACERVILLE |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 95667-5540 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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 | MYV |
| Departure City | Marysville |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1715 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | PVF |
| Destination City | Placerville |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 11 2009 9:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 23 |
| Runway Length | 4201 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |