| Crash location | 37.107778°N, 79.593055°W |
| Nearest city | Moneta, VA
37.181254°N, 79.617254°W 5.2 miles away |
| Tail number | N5198D |
|---|---|
| Accident date | 01 May 2002 |
| Aircraft type | Cessna 182A |
| Additional details: | None |
On May 1, 2002, at 0855 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 182A, N5198D, was substantially damaged while taxiing after landing at Smith Mountain Lake Airport (W91), Moneta, Virginia. The certificated student pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time, and no flight plan was filed for the solo instructional flight from a private airstrip in Rocky Mount, Virginia, that was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
According to the student pilot, he had just landed on runway 23. He made a left turn onto the "teardrop" taxiway, to back taxi down runway 05, when the right brake failed. The airplane then departed the taxiway, went into a ditch, and nosed over.
An examination of the airplane after the accident by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector revealed that the right brake cylinder was out of fluid, and other than a small amount of fluid up on the cylinder shaft, there were no holes or leaks noted.
According to the airplane's maintenance logbook, new wheels and brakes were installed on October 10, 1999. There was also a "check brakes" notation, dated December 22, 2001, as part of the logbook entry for the airplane's latest annual inspection.
A slow leak of brake fluid from the right brake cylinder, which eventually resulted in a loss of right brake effectiveness.