Bryan Wood

Bryan Wood

Well Known Member
A friend called last night to tell me that a Zodiac broke up in flight near Yuba City, CA. This caught his attention because about six months or so back his wifes instrument instructor was lost giving transition training in a Zodiac that his student had just purchased. This accident was near Oakdale, CA and also broke up in flight. The last I heard of this was that the wings folded up in level flight at around 1000' agl. Apparently witnesses are claiming that the wings folded up on this one too, although the link here doesn't state this to be the case. Does anybody out there know about these Zodiacs? Please educate...

http://www.appeal-democrat.com/articles/2006/11/05/news/top_story/news1.txt

Thanks,
 
Scuttlebutt around Oakdale and Modesto are that the pin that is inserted to lock the wing in place wasn't fully engaged. It possibly vibrated up and out of its socket allowing the wing to try to stow itself in flight. I saw the wreckage of the Oakdale crash but you couldn't tell anything by looking at it.
 
From what I have heard, the aircraft in Oakdale was missing the bolts attaching the rear spar, likely allowing the wing to rotate and overstress when flaps were deployed (Zodiac wings are bolted on, they are not designed for removable pins). It will be interesting to find out what happenned in the other accident, as it was reported to be a factory built sLSA.
 
One thing too is that the local TV (because of eyewitness accounts) are saying that the airplane "exploded" in mid-air. I still haven't figured out if I ever met these people. They only lived about 15 miles away. How sad.
 
Zodiacs are tough

My 601 HDS had 400 hours of hard pulling. It was rolled, looped, spun.

Never an issue.

from what I read the first wing fold up was in pretty much level flight...The only way that can happen on a ZOD is if the wing splice plate bolts were not installed.

Note the wings had JUST been reinstalled after the airplane was trucked to its new owner.

I didn't get the final NTSB report.

Frank
 
I delivered the Zodiac to it's new owner in Modesto (4.8 hours). It was flown from Hemet-Ryan with a refueling stop at Bakersfield. The accident flight was the first flight made after delivery. I'm not sure what happened and, like many others, I'm waiting for any final report. I do know that a pre-buy inspection was done and a conditional was accomplished just prior to delivery. It's pretty doubtful attachment bolts were not secure or missing or........................I'm a very lucky person.

Bill Stegemann
RV10 N545RV flying
 
I "think" were talking...

about two seperate accidents.

The first one (last year sometime) I was told had been dissassembled for road delivery.

It also folded in pretty much level flight.

Frank
 
A friend of mine was an eye witness to the accident. He said that it looked like one wing was folded almost straight up and the plane was going straight down. He only got a brief glance before the plane descended below the hangars and he couldn't see it any more.

I'm also very interested to see what the NTSB ultimately determines. Oakdale seems to have had more than it's fair share of accidents over the years for no good reason.
 
n2faith2 said:
I delivered the Zodiac to it's new owner in Modesto (4.8 hours). I'm a very lucky person.

Bill Stegemann
RV10 N545RV flying
Click to expand...

Bill,

I agree, your a very lucky man. May you never come so close during the rest of your flying life. Thanks for the insight.

Best,
 
Frank we are talking about the same Zodiac. I delivered it Dec 05. It's was the only Zodiac in-flight breakup listed by the NTSB.
Thanks for the thought Bryan. I'll echo that sentiment to all of us, all the time, that enjoy the wonderful world of flight.

Bill
RV10 N545RV
flying
 
ANN reports this was a factory-built aircaft.

-----

Witnesses Say Plane 'Exploded'

A Zodiac CH 601 single-engine aircraft went down in northern California Saturday, possibly due to an inflight 'explosion.' The aircraft crashed in a Sutter County orchard, killing two people who were on an apparent VFR pleasure flight.

The Marysville Appeal Democrat quoted sheriff's Capt. Dave Samson, "They took off from Mather Field. We don't know where they were going. We don't know why the plane went down. It did break up in flight."

A witness said he saw the plane heading northwest and heard the engine miss, cough, and start sputtering. He then said he saw the plane spewing black smoke and losing parts.

Other witnesses, according to the Sacramento Bee, said they heard a loud bang followed by a screeching, metallic sound. "It was like a bomb going off," said neighbor David Waters, who said he saw the plane falling and called 911. "The wings came off the fuselage. They were falling like a feather, floating and spiraling down."

Parts of the plane were scattered hundreds of feet apart. Other lightweight parts were said to have fluttered for over thirty seconds after the main wreckage hit.

The victims were identified as Donald and Adeline Dennehey, both 79, from nearby Fair Oaks.

The Zodiac is a small aluminum two-seat low-wing training and light-sport aircraft manufactured by Zenith Aircraft Co. in Mexico, MO. The company offers both kitbuilt and certificated production models. The accident aircraft was a factory-built model.
 
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