WASILLA, AK, USA
N8115V
Grumman S2F-1
During the landing roll, the right brake seal failed on the experimental category, ex-military airplane, releasing the hydraulic fluid and subsequently rendering the brake unusable. The airplane encountered soft earth as it began to drift left, and ultimately departed the left side of the 3,700 feet long by 75 feet wide gravel runway. The nose gear then collapsed. The right brake system had been overhauled and the right brake seal replaced 15 hours prior to the accident.
On September 24, 1998, about 1240 Alaska daylight time, a Grumman S2F-1 airplane, N8115V, sustained substantial damage when it departed runway 21 during landing at the New Wasilla airport, Wasilla, Alaska. The solo airline transport pilot was not injured. The airplane was owned and operated by the pilot under 14 CFR Part 91 as a local, personal flight. The airplane was being operated under an FAA letter of authorization, leading to an experimental category airworthiness certificate. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and no flight plan was filed. The pilot told the NTSB investigator-in-charge during a telephone interview on September 29, and wrote in his NTSB Pilot / Operator report, that during landing the right brake failed and the airplane began to drift to the left. The pilot said that soft earth on the left side of the runway compounded the left drift, and that differential power did not swing the nose of the airplane back to the right. The airplane departed the left side of the 3,700 feet long by 75 feet wide gravel runway, and the nose landing gear collapsed. Subsequent inspection of the airplane by an FAA Flight Standards District Office inspector revealed that the right brake seal failed, releasing the hydraulic fluid. A review of records showed that the right main landing gear had been overhauled, and the right brake seal replaced on June 8, 1998, at 7,363 airframe total hours, 15 hours prior to the accident. A review of work orders submitted by the overhaul facility listed the following repairs (in part): Remove R/H Wheel & Repair Leak 1.8 hours Overhaul Brakes 3.3 hours Install Tire & Set Brakes 0.8 hours Install R/H Brake 2.2 hours Install Brakes 4.3 hours
The failure of the recently overhauled right brake seal resulting in a total loss of brake fluid, failure of the right brake system, and subsequent inability of the pilot to utilize the brake. A contributing factor was the soft terrain.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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