Pilot Lost In Second Zodiac Accident In Week
One week after a Zenith
CH601XL Zodiac crashed under unknown circumstances in Northern
California, a second aircraft went down this weekend in Virginia,
claiming the life of the pilot onboard.
Authorities believe Jim Pellien, 58, was flying his two-seat
plane to Bryce Resort Airport at approximately 4:30 pm Saturday
afternoon when the plane crashed in the woods about one mile from
the field. Weather is not believed to be a factor at this time.
The FAA and NTSB were on scene Sunday to investigate.
FAA records identify the aircraft, N601VA, as a 2005 Zodiac XL
RTF (Ready To Fly) assembled by Czech Aircraft Works. The accident
plane is shown below.
Under a prior licensing agreement, CZAW assembled Zenith CH601
and CH701 aircraft for the European market, from kits supplied by
Zenith Aircraft Company in Mexico, MO.
As Aero-News reported, the
two companies -- competitors in the emerging US light-sport
aircraft market -- agreed to terminate that arrangement in
August.
As stated earlier, the accident is the second involving a
factory-built version of the popular Zodiac in one week. A CH601 went down near Yuba City, CA on
November 4, killing the two persons onboard. Witnesses
report hearing the engine sputter, followed by an explosion, before
the plane crashed into an orchard.
That plane, a 2006 model, was built by Aircraft Manufacturing
& Development Co (AMD) of Eastman, GA. AMD holds a Special
Airworthiness Certificate to assemble factory-built LSA
variants of the aircraft, from kits produced by Zenith.
The NTSB has not released its Preliminary Report into that
accident at this time.
First introduced in kit form in 1984, the all-metal, two-seat
Zodiac was reengineered slightly in 2001 for the light-sport
category, with a new wing and canopy design. The aircraft sports
unique, non-hinged ailerons; the control surfaces are instead
mounted to a flexible section of the wing skin.
IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 601VA
Make/Model: EXP Description:
CH601XL RTF
Date: 11/11/2006 Time: 2211
Event Type: Accident Highest Injury:
Fatal Mid Air: N Missing:
N
Damage: Substantial
LOCATION
City: SHENANDOAH State: VA Country:
US
DESCRIPTION
ACFT CRASHED INTO A WOODED AREA UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANSES,
THE ONE PERSON
ON BOARD WAS FATALLY INJURED, SHENANDOAH, VA
INJURY DATA Total
Fatal: 1
# Crew: 1 Fat:
1 Ser:
0 Min:
0 Unk:
# Pass: 0 Fat:
0 Ser:
0 Min:
0 Unk:
# Grnd:
Fat: 0 Ser:
0 Min:
0 Unk:
WEATHER: KSHD 112140Z AUTO 17006KT 10SM CLR 22/12 A2979
OTHER DATA
Activity: Unknown Phase:
Unknown Operation: OTHER
Departed:
Dep Date: Dep.
Time:
Destination:
Flt
Plan:
Wx Briefing:
Last Radio Cont:
Last Clearance:
FAA FSDO: WASHINGTON IAD, DC
(EA27)
Entry date: 11/13/2006