Narrative:

We pushed back from the gate on-time. We arrived at the end of the runway; stopped the aircraft at the hold short line; and engaged the parking brake. Then we were cleared to taxi into position and hold. When I released the parking brake to begin taxiing; I noticed that the aircraft would not move. I told the first officer that the aircraft would not move and that it appeared that the parking brake was stuck. Just as I was telling him this; we felt the brakes break free and the aircraft began to move. Once the wheels started rolling; we noticed that the brakes were chattering heavily; which caused the whole aircraft to shake considerably. This was occurring even though we were not applying the brakes. The first officer and I decided that it would not be safe to conduct the flight in this condition; and decided to return to the gate. We advised the control tower of this; and they cleared us to taxi back to the gate. The first officer notified operations; the flight attendant; and the passengers of the problem and that we were going back to the gate. As we were taxiing back to the gate; the chattering and shaking continued for about a minute; once again this was occurring even though we were not applying the brakes. The chattering and shaking became less and then stopped. The chattering began again when I applied the brakes while taxiing; but now this only occurred while I used the brakes and not when the wheels were turning freely. When the problem first became apparent to us; the shaking of the aircraft was considerable enough that we could not initially determine which side the problem was on. Now that the shaking was less; and only occurred when I applied the brakes; and we were entering the ramp area close to our gate; we tried to diagnose which side had the problem so we could give maintenance as much detail as possible. First I applied the left brake (and not the right brake) and noticed that it operated normally. Then I applied the right brake ( and not the left brake) and noticed that this was the side with the problem. We arrived at the gate and proceeded with a normal shut down and deplaning. While the passengers were getting off of the aircraft; a ramp agent came up to the flight deck and advised us that our right brakes were smoking. At this point we could not notice any smoke from the flight deck. Then another ramp agent came up and said that the brakes were on fire and that one of our mechanics was on the ramp and getting a fire extinguisher. At this point we noticed smoke on the right side of the aircraft; and due to the wind direction the smoke was blowing toward the left side of the aircraft; causing the smoke to come into the cabin through the airstair door. Some passengers had already deplaned and were waiting outside the aircraft for their carry-on bags. The flight attendant ordered them to not wait for their bags and to get into the terminal building immediately. She then ordered the passengers that were still onboard (fewer than 10 people; approximately) to quickly get off of the airplane; do not wait for their carry-on bags; and to get into the terminal building as quickly as possible. After the last passenger was off of the airplane; she made sure that there wasn't anyone else onboard. She and the first officer then exited the airplane; and checked the ramp area to make sure that all of the passengers were clear of the aircraft and safely inside the terminal building. I de-powered the aircraft; checked once again that all people were off of the airplane; then exited the aircraft. Once outside; I went toward the nose of the airplane so I could assess the condition of the right side landing gear. By this time; the mechanic had already discharged the fire extinguisher; and there were no longer any signs of fire or smoke. A few minutes later; the airport fire trucks arrived. I promptly called my dispatcher to advise him of the situation.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Dash 8 Captain reported problems with his brakes on taxi out. He returned to the gate where the right brakes were found to be smoking. Ramp personnel used an extinguisher on the hot brakes.

Narrative: We pushed back from the gate on-time. We arrived at the end of the runway; stopped the aircraft at the hold short line; and engaged the parking brake. Then we were cleared to taxi into position and hold. When I released the parking brake to begin taxiing; I noticed that the aircraft would not move. I told the First Officer that the aircraft would not move and that it appeared that the parking brake was stuck. Just as I was telling him this; we felt the brakes break free and the aircraft began to move. Once the wheels started rolling; we noticed that the brakes were chattering heavily; which caused the whole aircraft to shake considerably. This was occurring even though we were not applying the brakes. The First Officer and I decided that it would not be safe to conduct the flight in this condition; and decided to return to the gate. We advised the control tower of this; and they cleared us to taxi back to the gate. The First Officer notified operations; the Flight Attendant; and the passengers of the problem and that we were going back to the gate. As we were taxiing back to the gate; the chattering and shaking continued for about a minute; once again this was occurring even though we were not applying the brakes. The chattering and shaking became less and then stopped. The chattering began again when I applied the brakes while taxiing; but now this only occurred while I used the brakes and not when the wheels were turning freely. When the problem first became apparent to us; the shaking of the aircraft was considerable enough that we could not initially determine which side the problem was on. Now that the shaking was less; and only occurred when I applied the brakes; and we were entering the ramp area close to our gate; we tried to diagnose which side had the problem so we could give Maintenance as much detail as possible. First I applied the left brake (and not the right brake) and noticed that it operated normally. Then I applied the right brake ( and not the left brake) and noticed that this was the side with the problem. We arrived at the gate and proceeded with a normal shut down and deplaning. While the passengers were getting off of the aircraft; a Ramp Agent came up to the flight deck and advised us that our right brakes were smoking. At this point we could not notice any smoke from the flight deck. Then another Ramp Agent came up and said that the brakes were on fire and that one of our Mechanics was on the ramp and getting a fire extinguisher. At this point we noticed smoke on the right side of the aircraft; and due to the wind direction the smoke was blowing toward the left side of the aircraft; causing the smoke to come into the cabin through the airstair door. Some passengers had already deplaned and were waiting outside the aircraft for their carry-on bags. The Flight Attendant ordered them to not wait for their bags and to get into the terminal building immediately. She then ordered the passengers that were still onboard (fewer than 10 people; approximately) to quickly get off of the airplane; do not wait for their carry-on bags; and to get into the terminal building as quickly as possible. After the last passenger was off of the airplane; she made sure that there wasn't anyone else onboard. She and the First Officer then exited the airplane; and checked the ramp area to make sure that all of the passengers were clear of the aircraft and safely inside the terminal building. I de-powered the aircraft; checked once again that all people were off of the airplane; then exited the aircraft. Once outside; I went toward the nose of the airplane so I could assess the condition of the right side landing gear. By this time; the mechanic had already discharged the fire extinguisher; and there were no longer any signs of fire or smoke. A few minutes later; the airport fire trucks arrived. I promptly called my dispatcher to advise him of the situation.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.