Narrative:

The pushback from the gate was normal. When the ground crew told me to set the brakes I did. I confirmed that the brakes were set and saw normal brake pressure on the triple brake indicator gauge. We were planning a single engine taxi. The after start checklist was completed and taxi clearance was received. I released the parking brake and performed a brake check before taxiing out to the spot. We started the second engine shortly after we started taxiing to the spot. Ground control gave us taxi clearance to runway xx. Ground then informed us to give way to the first regional jet coming out. I applied the brakes to slow the plane down so the rj could get in front. The rj was taxiing slowly so I had to apply brakes several times during taxiing to slow the plane down. Ground control switched us to tower. Tower cleared the rj for takeoff and then told us to line up and wait. The rj went into position and stopped. Upon approaching the runway hold short line I applied the brakes to stop the plane in order for the rj to start his takeoff roll. It was at that time that I noticed that the plane had lost its brakes. I told the first officer; 'no brakes'. He tried to apply the brakes on his side; however; there was also no response from the brake pedals on his side of the plane. We crossed the runway hold short line without brakes. Fearing that we might hit the rj; I went into full engine reverse thrust to slow down the plane. The first officer reached for the anti-skid nose wheel steering disconnect switch and turned it off and then we turned on the electric yellow hydraulic pump. I put my hands on the parking brake lever and tried to move it a little to modulate the brakes; this seemed not to help. At the same time the first officer told the rj through the tower frequency to take off immediately due to the fact that we had lost brakes. The rj was able to takeoff without us making contact. I tried to turn the airplane earlier but had no tiller response. Both the first officer and myself could not remember if it was before turning the anti-skid nose wheel steering switch to off or not. As we had almost slowed to a stop the nose wheel left the surface of the pavement. As I put the parking brake on we came to a complete stop. I then stowed the engine reverse thrust while the first officer got on the P.a. And told everyone to remain seated. We informed tower that we had left the paved surface with our front nose wheel and they sent out the emergency vehicles to the plane. Once the nose wheels were chocked we shut down engine 2 so the right main gear could be chocked. After that we shut down engine 1 so that the left main gear could be chocked. After we had stopped the first officer thought he had seen an ECAM while we were trying to slow down. He doesn't remember what the ECAM was and I never saw it. My eyes were outside trying to stop the plane. Just the nose of the plane left the paved surface. No injuries and no damage to the plane were reported. I feel that the first officer and I followed the proper loss of brake procedure that is outlined in the normal chapter of [company] flight handbook. The first officer on this flight did a great job of reacting quickly and efficiently during this emergency situation. His skill as a pilot is exceptional.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A319 Captain reported experiencing a brake failure while attempting to hold short of the runway. Captain reported going into full engine reverse to attempt to slow the aircraft. The nose wheel left the surface of the pavement.

Narrative: The pushback from the gate was normal. When the ground crew told me to set the brakes I did. I confirmed that the brakes were set and saw normal brake pressure on the triple brake indicator gauge. We were planning a single engine taxi. The after start checklist was completed and taxi clearance was received. I released the parking brake and performed a brake check before taxiing out to the spot. We started the second engine shortly after we started taxiing to the spot. Ground control gave us taxi clearance to runway XX. Ground then informed us to give way to the first regional jet coming out. I applied the brakes to slow the plane down so the RJ could get in front. The RJ was taxiing slowly so I had to apply brakes several times during taxiing to slow the plane down. Ground control switched us to tower. Tower cleared the RJ for takeoff and then told us to line up and wait. The RJ went into position and stopped. Upon approaching the runway hold short line I applied the brakes to stop the plane in order for the RJ to start his takeoff roll. It was at that time that I noticed that the plane had lost its brakes. I told the First Officer; 'No Brakes'. He tried to apply the brakes on his side; however; there was also no response from the brake pedals on his side of the plane. We crossed the runway hold short line without brakes. Fearing that we might hit the RJ; I went into full engine reverse thrust to slow down the plane. The FO reached for the anti-skid nose wheel steering disconnect switch and turned it off and then we turned on the electric yellow hydraulic pump. I put my hands on the parking brake lever and tried to move it a little to modulate the brakes; this seemed not to help. At the same time the FO told the RJ through the tower frequency to take off immediately due to the fact that we had lost brakes. The RJ was able to takeoff without us making contact. I tried to turn the airplane earlier but had no tiller response. Both the FO and myself could not remember if it was before turning the anti-skid nose wheel steering switch to off or not. As we had almost slowed to a stop the nose wheel left the surface of the pavement. As I put the parking brake on we came to a complete stop. I then stowed the engine reverse thrust while the FO got on the P.A. and told everyone to remain seated. We informed tower that we had left the paved surface with our front nose wheel and they sent out the emergency vehicles to the plane. Once the nose wheels were chocked we shut down engine 2 so the right main gear could be chocked. After that we shut down engine 1 so that the left main gear could be chocked. After we had stopped the FO thought he had seen an ECAM while we were trying to slow down. He doesn't remember what the ECAM was and I never saw it. My eyes were outside trying to stop the plane. Just the nose of the plane left the paved surface. No injuries and no damage to the plane were reported. I feel that the FO and I followed the proper loss of brake procedure that is outlined in the normal chapter of [company] Flight Handbook. The FO on this flight did a great job of reacting quickly and efficiently during this emergency situation. His skill as a pilot is exceptional.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.