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

FMI: www.faa.gov