On June 8, 2012, at 1330 eastern daylight time, a Ryan Aeronautical ST3KR, N721R, sustained substantial damage when it lost directional control during landing at the Norwalk-Huron County Airport (5A1), Norwalk, Ohio. The pilot and passenger were not injured. The airplane was registered and operated by a private individual under the provisions of the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and no flight plan was filed. The airplane departed Geauga County Airport (7G8), Middlefield, Ohio, at 1230.
The pilot reported that the tailwheel equipped airplane was landing on runway 28 (4,210 feet by 75 feet, asphalt). He reported that the right brake "locked up" upon touchdown causing the airplane to veer off the runway. The airplane struck a 3-foot wide drainage ditch that was about 66 feet from the edge of the runway and ran parallel to the runway, which resulted in sustained substantial damage to the left wing.
A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector examined the accident site. He reported that the runway skid marks and the wingtip scrape indicated that the right wheel was not on the ground until shortly before contacting the ditch. The inspector reported that the airplane had a very narrow wheel stance and limited forward visibility in the landing attitude.
The right brake was tested at the brake manufacturer's facility with FAA oversight. The brake successfully passed the acceptance test procedure, and there was no visual indication of fluid leakage around the piston.
The pilot had 997 total flight hours with 1 hour logged in the accident airplane. The accident flight was the first flight he had in the airplane, and it was his first landing in the accident airplane.
At 1353, the surface weather observation at the Lorain County Regional Airport (LPR), Lorain, Ohio, located about 18 nautical miles east of 5A1, was: wind 320 degrees at 9 knots; 10 miles visibility; sky clear; temperature 26 degrees Celsius; dew point 7 degrees Celsius; altimeter 30.05 inches of mercury.