18 Jan 2024: CESSNA 172L

18 Jan 2024: CESSNA 172L (N7250Q) — Unknown operator

No fatalities • Grass Valley, CA, United States

Probable cause

Loss of control during the landing roll due to a malfunctioning brake for undetermined reasons.

— NTSB Determination

Accident narrative

On January 18, 2024, about 1240 Pacific standard time, a Cessna 172L, N7250Q, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Grass Valley, California. The pilot was not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The pilot reported that his flight to Nevada County Airport (GOO), Grass Valley, and the subsequent approach and touchdown were normal. During the landing roll on runway 25, as he applied the brakes to slow down and exit the runway, the airplane veered to the right. The pilot stated that the left brake did not function. The airplane slowed to less than 35 mph as it traveled past the taxiway turn . The pilot stated that the engine was at an idle power setting, and he attempted the use of aerodynamic braking to stop the airplane, which he believed would stop before the end of the runway. The pilot stated that he “got off the brakes,” and attempted to correct back to runway centerline with the application of full left rudder pedal. The airplane continued to veer to the right, exited the right side of the runway, traveled over an embankment, and came to rest inverted. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings, vertical stabilizer, rudder, and propeller. A review of photographs provided by the Federal Aviation Administration, showed that all three-landing gear had left impressions in the soft dirt adjacent to the runway. The right main landing gear impression exhibited a more pronounced indention mark in the dirt than the left main and nose landing gears. A postaccident examination of the brake system revealed improper retaining hardware bolts securing the backplates of the left and right brake calipers. Both brakes were manipulated by the rudder pedals and when activated were “firm” and functioned normally. Examination of the nose landing gear oleo strut showed the torque links were not contacting the centering block on the strut housing. The left and right steer rods were attached and had continuity with the left and right rudder pedals.

Contributing factors

  • Brake
  • Directional control — Not attained/maintained

Conditions

Weather
VMC, vis 10sm

Loading the flight search…

What you can do on Flight Finder

  • Search flights between any two airports with live fares.
  • By aircraft — pick a plane model (e.g. Boeing 787, Airbus A350) and see every route it flies from your origin.
  • Route map — click any airport worldwide to explore its destinations, or draw a radius to find nearby airports.
  • Global aviation safety — aviation accident database, 5,200+ records since 1980, with map and rankings by aircraft and operator.
  • NTSB safety feed — recent U.S. aviation accidents and incidents from the official NTSB CAROL database, updated daily.

Frequently asked questions

How do I search flights by aircraft type on FlightFinder?

Pick an aircraft model — Boeing 737, Airbus A320, A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and more — enter your origin airport, and FlightFinder shows every route that plane flies from there with live fares.

Which aircraft types can I filter by?

We support Boeing 737/747/757/767/777/787, the full Airbus A220/A319/A320/A321/A330/A340/A350/A380 family, Embraer E170/E175/E190/E195, Bombardier CRJ and Dash 8, and the ATR 42/72 turboprops.

Is FlightFinder free to use?

Search and schedules are free. Pro ($4.99/month, $39/year, or $99 one-time lifetime) unlocks the enriched flight card — on-time stats, CO₂ per passenger, amenities, live gate & weather — plus My Trips with push alerts.

Where does the route data come from?

Live schedules come from Amadeus, AeroDataBox and Travelpayouts. Observed routes (which aircraft actually flew a given city pair) are crowdsourced from adsb.lol ADS-B data under the Open Database License.