On June 10, 2001, about 1320 eastern daylight time, a Yakovlev 52, N114YK, was substantially damaged while landing at the Shannon Airport, (EZF), Fredericksburg, Virginia. The certificated commercial pilot and a pilot rated passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed for the flight that departed Warrenton, Virginia. The personal flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91. The airplane was landing on runway 33, a 1,300 foot-long, 150 foot-wide, turf runway. In a written statement, the pilot said the airplane touched down on the first quarter of the runway, "approximately between the first and second hanger perpendicular to the runway." He further stated, " I applied brakes, but was not getting any braking action. As I applied more brakes, the aircraft began to just skid down the grass runway. At this point I was thinking of going-around, but with full flaps down and tress on the opposite end of the runway, I elected to continue to try to stop...." The airplane departed the end of the runway, traveled over an embankment, and came to rest on railroad tracks. Examination of the airplane, which included the brake system, by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector, did not reveal any pre-accident mechanical malfunctions. According to the airport manager, the distance between the first and second hangar, where the pilot indicated the airplane had touched down, was approximately 650 feet beyond the approach end of the runway. The pilot reported he had accumulated about 3,000 hours of total flight experience. He had recently purchased the accident airplane and had accumulated about 16 hours of total flight experience in make and model. The winds reported at EZF, about the time of the accident were calm.