Amateur-built Glasair N4EJ accident near Broomfield, Colorado

Probable cause

The failure of the right brake line, which resulted in a loss of directional control and runway excursion.

NTSB analysis

The airline transport pilot reported that, during the landing roll, the experimental, amateur-built airplane started drifting to the left and he applied right rudder to correct. He subsequently attempted to apply right brake pressure to further correct for the drift as the airplane was traveling about 50 knots. At that time, the right brake pedal "went to the floor," and there was "zero" right brake available. The airplane departed the left side of the runway, crossed the grass, and came to rest on the parallel taxiway.

A postrecovery examination revealed that the plastic right brake line was broken near the upper end of the landing gear strut. The airplane was equipped with a free-castering nosewheel and did not have any nosewheel steering capability. Directional control during ground operations was maintained with differential braking. As a result, maintaining directional control after the brake failure was not possible.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for CEN18LA180 for the full record.