When their brakes failed during a turn while taxiing for takeoff the flight crew of a ce-208 were un...

Attributes
ACN	1137586
Time
Date	201312
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Caravan 208B
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 135
Flight Phase	Taxi
Route In Use	None
Flight Plan	VFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Normal Brake System
Person 1
Function	Pilot Not Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Flight Instructor
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 160 Flight Crew Total 1980 Flight Crew Type 920
Person 2
Function	First Officer Pilot Flying
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 34 Flight Crew Total 1182 Flight Crew Type 60
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Ground Excursion Taxiway Inflight Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control

Narrative:

The copilot was taxiing to the runway from the commuter air terminal. Upon reaching a right hand turn to follow the taxiway and attempting to slow the aircraft; the copilot says to me; 'I have no brakes.' I immediately reached for the brake pedals and found the left pedal all the way to the floor. We were then in a sharp right hand turn at a low speed. Attempting to pump up the hydraulic brakes with no success; I put the throttle into the reverse position to stop the aircraft. The aircraft proceeded to the right a short distance; partially off of the taxiway into a patch of dirt/grass and came to a stop. The left brake pedal was still fully depressed and non-responsive. I contacted the tower and explained our situation. At that point; I shut down the engine and debriefed the passengers. The copilot deplaned to place the tail stand and chocks. Airport operations were on the scene immediately to secure the area. The passengers were then deplaned and taken by foot back to the commuter terminal; approximately 200 yards away. No taxi lights were hit and the airplane was not damaged. Maintenance was called and arrived shortly to tow the aircraft back to the terminal.this aircraft has a documented history of braking issues with maintenance log revealing two prior write ups in the last week for the left brake. Corrective actions were preformed with replacing the master cylinder and entire brake lines. This aircraft was taxied and flow one prior leg today by myself with no braking issues noticed.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: When their brakes failed during a turn while taxiing for takeoff the flight crew of a CE-208 were unable to prevent an excursion off the taxiway. The aircraft had a history of left brake srite-ups in the recent past.

Narrative: The copilot was taxiing to the runway from the commuter air terminal. Upon reaching a right hand turn to follow the taxiway and attempting to slow the aircraft; the copilot says to me; 'I have no brakes.' I immediately reached for the brake pedals and found the left pedal all the way to the floor. We were then in a sharp right hand turn at a low speed. Attempting to pump up the hydraulic brakes with no success; I put the throttle into the reverse position to stop the aircraft. The aircraft proceeded to the right a short distance; partially off of the taxiway into a patch of dirt/grass and came to a stop. The left brake pedal was still fully depressed and non-responsive. I contacted the Tower and explained our situation. At that point; I shut down the engine and debriefed the passengers. The copilot deplaned to place the tail stand and chocks. Airport Operations were on the scene immediately to secure the area. The passengers were then deplaned and taken by foot back to the commuter terminal; approximately 200 yards away. No taxi lights were hit and the airplane was not damaged. Maintenance was called and arrived shortly to tow the aircraft back to the terminal.This aircraft has a documented history of braking issues with maintenance log revealing two prior write ups in the last week for the left brake. Corrective actions were preformed with replacing the master cylinder and entire brake lines. This aircraft was taxied and flow one prior leg today by myself with no braking issues noticed.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

When their brakes failed during a turn while taxiing for takeoff the flight crew of a ce-208 were unable to prevent an excursion off the taxiway. The aircraft had a history of left brake srite-ups in the recent past.