Accident Overview
On June 13, 2011, at approximately 1825 Pacific daylight time, a Grumman G-164A (registration N5286) sustained substantial damage after departing the runway and colliding with two dumpsters at a private airstrip in Buttonwillow, California. The aircraft was registered to Slikker Flying Service, Inc., and operated by Vince Dusters under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 137 as an aerial application flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The commercial pilot was not injured. The flight had originated from a private field in Buttonwillow, California, at 1000.
Maintenance History
Aircraft maintenance records indicated that the last annual inspection was performed on December 1, 2010, and the logbooks annotated the airplane as airworthy. The airplane was not flown after that inspection until the day before the accident, when the company owner test flew it and reported that the brakes were operating normally.
Pilot Account
The pilot stated that on the accident day, he had conducted numerous landings on the airstrip and the brakes were "a little worn out" but had operated well enough to allow stopping on the runway. He added that he was fatigued and dehydrated after flying for nearly 8 hours. For the accident landing, the pilot reported that he was slightly fast on the approach with a tailwind of approximately 5–10 knots. Upon touchdown, he was unable to stop the airplane before the end of the runway and exited the right side. After the airplane left the runway, its right wing struck a dumpster. The initial impact caused the airplane to spin into a second dumpster, against which it came to rest.
Post-Accident Brake Examination
Immediately after the accident, the owner/operator checked the brakes and found them to be operating normally. Three days later, an inspector from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) noted that the right brake would not hold pressure and was leaking brake fluid from the right master cylinder. The left brake would hold pressure after about eight pumps but was leaking brake fluid from the B-nut at the hard line to the flex line at the caliper. The continuity of the brake system was not checked at that time.