Cessna Citation Runway Overrun Into Arresting System (Key West, Florida)

  • 6 years ago
On November 3, 2011, about 12:13 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 550 (N938D) received minor damage during a runway overrun at Key West International Airport in Florida. The Engineered Material Arresting System worked as designed. The two certificated airline transport pilots and their three passengers were uninjured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and an IFR flight plan had been filed for the business flight, which had departed Fort Lauderdale and was a Part 91 flight.

According to the airline transport pilot (ATP) who was the pilot-in-command (PIC) of the flight, he conducted a visual approach to the runway. He flew the downwind leg at 1,500 feet at 130 knots indicated airspeed, turned onto final approach at 1,000 feet and flew the final approach at 106 knots and touched down 800 feet down the runway at 95 to 100 knots. At touch down he extended the speed brakes, and after traveling another 800 feet, he went to apply wheel braking but, there was no braking, and the brake pedals felt "hard" and would not move. He then attempted to apply the emergency brake but, there was "no brake at all" when he pulled it. The airplane then overran the runway. He felt that he had to stop and could not go around.

According to the ATP who was in the right seat and acting as the second-in-command (SIC), the airplane had last been operated approximately two months prior to the incident. The purpose of the incident flight was to demonstrate the airplane to a potential buyer. The PIC of the flight was a contract pilot to his company which was trying to sell the airplane on behalf of the owner. The takeoff from Fort Lauderdale, the cruise portion, and the approach to Key West were all uneventful. The touchdown occurred at the reference speed of 103 knots and was similarly uneventful. The PIC applied the wheel brakes, and there was no braking. The SIC then tried them also and the brakes "were not working."

According to a passenger who was a pilot and was in the cabin, when they taxied out at Fort Lauderdale, the brakes were working fine. After landing in Key West he felt no braking whatsoever. He told NTSB investigators that he felt they should have gone around. (Somehow knowing that their brakes were not going to work...)