NTSB WPR25LA178 — 2025-04-04 · Vancouver, Washington, United States

Current FAA registration · N9404N

Make / Model: PIPER PA-28R-200
Year of manufacture: 1969 · 56 years old at event
Engine: LYCOMING I0360 SER (180 hp)
Seats / Engines: 4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date: 19690708
ADS-B equipped: Yes — Mode-S AD1019

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

N9404N Piper PA-28R-200 None

Probable cause & findings

A failure of the brake system during landing due to a hydraulic fluid leak, which resulted in a runway excursion.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that during a test flight following an annual inspection, he landed normally, but the brakes faded almost immediately after he applied them. The pilot exited the runway, and the airplane collided with a fence, which resulted in substantial damage to the right wing. Postaccident examination of the brake system revealed a small leak at the brake line fitting at the left caliper and the brake fluid reservoir was 2/3 empty. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

— Aircraft-Aircraft systems-Landing gear system-Brake-Failure
— Aircraft-Fluids/misc hardware-Fluids-Hydraulic fluid-Fluid level

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2025_WPR25LA178.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (runway excursion). All research papers