Embraer 500 N226CP incident near Brenham, Texas

Probable cause

The pilots’ decision to depart with a known failed brake control unit.

NTSB analysis

The crewmembers reported that they were still on the ground and noticed a crew alerting system (CAS) message indicating a brake failure. They decided to continue their departure, and the CAS message stayed active for the entire flight. After touchdown, the co-pilot was flying the airplane when he discovered that the brakes did not work, and the airplane began skidding when he pulled the emergency parking brake handle. The airplane was moving about 50 to 60 knots when both tires blew. While the airplane was still skidding on the runway, the nose rotated about 120 degrees to the left and the airplane exited the left side of the runway while moving sideways to the right. The right main landing gear collapsed after contacting the soft ground on the side of the runway. A postaccident examination of the brake control unit (BCU) revealed a fault on the printed circuit board that led to an open circuit for a component installed on the board. The open circuit caused the failure of the BCU and the loss of normal braking. An examination of the remaining systems revealed no anomalies.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for CEN10IA535 for the full record.