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It is possible that water on the runway reduced braking effectiveness by causing the wheels to slide, even though the brakes themselves were functioning properly. While the wet condition of the runway surface could not have completely eliminated braking effectiveness, a reduced effectiveness may have been sufficient to induce the pilot to believe that he had no brakes at all.
In any event, if an attempt to apply the brakes had been made in the early part of the landing roll, in all probability the accident would have been avoided. In that case, if they had been found to be inoperative, of ineffective, there would have been sufficient runway remaining to permit a take-off, and another landing could have been made using the fall extent of the runway.
Having concluded that it was improper, under the circumstance in this case, to delay the application of brakes in the manner earlier described, we must consider whether the action of the captain in attempting a groundloop was justified. If the captain was correct in concluding that the airplane could not be stopped by continued application of brakes, his attempt to execute a groundloop was an exercise of sound judgement under the circumstances existing at the time. If, on the other hand, he was wrong in that conclusion, it would appear that application of power to the right engine resulted in an increase in speed of the airplane and thus contributed to cause it to slide off the runway the over the embankment.
