Zenith CH601 accident near Bristol, IN
On April 30, 2024, a Zenith CH601 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Bristol, IN. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- April 30, 2024
- Place
- Bristol, IN
- Aircraft
- Zenith CH601 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 41.727°N, 85.844°W
- NTSB ID
- 20240430194178
Official records · CEN24FA170
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn April 30, 2024, at 1418 eastern daylight time, a Zodiac CH-601 HDS airplane, N6271F, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Bristol, Indiana. The private pilot and pilot-rated passenger were fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The pilot’s wife reported that the pilot intended to fly his airplane with the pilot-rated passenger to Branch County Memorial Airport (OEB), Coldwater, Michigan, for lunch and then return to Elkhart Municipal Airport (EKM) Elkhart, Indiana, where the airplane was hangared. She stated that this was a very popular flight for the pilot, and he usually returned within three hours. ADS-B data indicated that the airplane departed EKM at 1152 and landed at OEB at 1225. The return flight departed OEB at 1339 and proceeded southwest at a cruise altitude between 4,200 ft mean sea level (msl) and 4,500 ft msl and a true airspeed of about 80 kts. At 14:15:44, the airplane started a descent and continued west toward EKM. During the next 2 minutes, the true airspeed increased to about 110 kts and the average descent rate was about 600 ft per minute (fpm). At 14:17:57, the airspeed increased to about 120 kts, with a descent rate of more than 7,000 fpm. The final data point was recorded at 14:18:05 at an altitude of 1,635 ft msl (870 ft agl), which was 7 nautical miles east of EKM, and about 400 ft east of the accident site. A witness, labeled as witness 1 in the figure, stated that the airplane flew directly overhead from the east to the west, then entered
Probable cause
The pilot’s loss of control during the descent for reasons that could not be determined, which resulted in a steep descent into terrain.
More accidents in IN
- Pilatus PC-12, May 25, 2011
- Mitsubishi MU-2B-60, Sep 11, 1992
- Cessna 310N, Nov 20, 1984
- Cessna T303, Nov 14, 2006
- Cessna U206G, Apr 21, 2006
Browse: Indiana · Zenith aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
