Accident Overview
A pilot made an emergency landing on a rural road after determining that the intended landing area, a sod field, had unsuitable terrain conditions. During the landing rollout, the airplane veered off the left side of the road and entered a ditch.
Pilot's Account
The pilot reported that during the rollout, the right brake began to fail, causing the airplane to slowly veer to the left. He attempted to correct the deviation by releasing the left brake and applying right rudder and tailwheel steering. Despite these inputs, the airplane continued to veer left and eventually rolled into a ditch. The pilot attributed the right brake failure to adjustment problems, noting that the right brake had a history of requiring periodic adjustment compared to the left brake. He did not report finding any obvious mechanical failures during his post-crash examination of the airplane.
Aircraft Information
According to the airplane's maintenance records, the cable-operated brake system was repaired during the last annual inspection, which occurred approximately four months before the incident.