What happened
A private pilot with 2,800 hours of flight experience was performing a landing to the northwest on a 1,900-foot private grass airstrip. During the landing phase, the pilot reported that the right main landing gear brake locked and failed to release. This caused the single-engine airplane to turn to the right, resulting in the collapse of the left landing gear. At the time of the accident, winds at a weather reporting facility 5 miles north were from 04 . At the accident site, the pilot reported winds from 130 degrees at 10 knots.
The investigation
An FAA inspector examined the aircraft and determined that the right main landing gear wheel and brake assembly remained intact. The inspection found that the brake pads were in a released state and were not binding to the brake disk. However, during subsequent maintenance repairs, an airframe and powerplant mechanic discovered that applying pressure to the main toe-brake caused the parking brake mechanism to lock the right main landing gear brake. The mechanic noted that this issue was a common problem for this specific aircraft type.