Schwarz ZODIAC CH 601 accident near Wooster, OH
On July 29, 2000, a Schwarz ZODIAC CH 601 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Wooster, OH. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- July 29, 2000
- Place
- Wooster, OH
- Aircraft
- Schwarz ZODIAC CH 601 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 40.811°N, 81.930°W
- NTSB ID
- 20001212X21595
NTSB summary
On July 29, 2000, at 1622 Eastern Daylight Time, a homebuilt Zodiac CH 601, N601GS, was destroyed during an approach to Wayne County Airport (BJJ), Wooster, Ohio. The certificated private pilot and the passenger were fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. A visual flight rules flight plan was filed for the flight, between Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport (YNG), Youngstown, Ohio, and Wayne County. The personal flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91. According to a witness, who was also a certificated commercial pilot, the airplane first flew around the airport, then entered a left traffic pattern for landing on Runway 28. When the airplane was turning from base onto final, the witness saw it "stall and start a spin to the left.... The pilot got the rotation stopped, but the nose was high and it mushed out of sight over [a] hill." The airplane was issued a special airworthiness certificate on March 9, 2000. The last maintenance performed on it was the repair of a muffler on the day before the accident, and at that time, the airplane had 109.6 hours of service. The airplane also had an angle of attack advisory system installed. Photographs provided by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) revealed that one propeller blade was shattered, and that all flight control surfaces were at the accident scene. The airplane came to rest on a magnetic heading of 180 degrees. Computations made by an FAA inspector revealed that the center of gravity was aft of the rearward limit by 3.13 inches, and the airplane was 21.5 pounds over
Probable cause
The pilot's loss of control of the airplane while turning from base onto final, which resulted in an inadvertent stall/spin. A factor was the pilot's improper loading of the airplane, outside the weight and balance limitations.
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Browse: Ohio
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
