The pilot reported that he had just purchased the Zenith Zodiac 601XL and was in the process of flying it to Texas.
He did not have any flight time in the make and model of airplane.
He reported that, shortly after takeoff from Runway 24 at Cuchara Valley Airport (07V) in La Veta, Colorado, when the airplane was about 400 to 500 feet AGL, the engine lost all power, and he placed the airplane in a glide.
When the airplane was about 100 feet AGL it stalled and hit the ground, coming to rest inverted. The fuselage and wings sustained substantial damage.
The pilot and passenger received minor injuries.
The previous owner, who had just sold the airplane to the pilot, was present when the accident happened. He said that he did not believe the accident was the result of a loss of engine power and that the wind at the time was about 35 to 40 knots with gusts.
He told investigators that he tried to persuade the pilot to delay taking the airplane until another day when the wind was more favorable, but the pilot and his passenger were determined to leave that day.
Probable Cause: The pilot’s decision to fly the airplane in which he had no experience in strong, gusting wind, which resulted his failure to maintain proper airspeed and his exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack and a subsequent aerodynamic stall.
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This March 2023 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
In post crash cockpit photo Fuel selector is on Right Aux. Not Main tank as pilot stated.
Yes, I noted that too.
There was no report of what fuel was in the 4 tanks. It may have been that with the aircraft remaining upside down, they expected fuel to leak from the tanks ?
John Brannen
Senior Air Safety Investigator
AS-CEN
Spoke with Mr. Zarate by telephone. He confirmed that he was the pilot of N969WD, that was involved in an accident on March 10, 2023, in La Veta, CO. He informed me that he had already completed the NTSB report form and it was ready to send in. I obtained his e-mail address and sent him an e-mail so that he could send the completed form in by return e-mail. I asked him to describe what happened. He said that he had just purchased the airplane and he and a friend were there to fly the airplane back to Texas. They performed a thorough preflight and run-up and then proceeded to take off from runway 24. When the airplane was about 400-500 agl the engine rpms dropped. He glided down to about 100 ft agl and the airplane “flipped”. When asked if it flipped due to an aerodynamic stall he confirmed that it had. I asked which fuel tank was selected and the fuel tank configuration. The airplane had 4 fuel tanks with inboard and outboard wing tanks on each side. He said the outboard tanks were empty because of weight and balance because there were 2 people on-board, and that the inboard tanks were full. He said he was running on the inboard right tank when the accident occurred.
Date:
March 15, 2023
Subject:
CEN23LA128
Contact:
Martin Zarate – Pilot of N969WD
Had the Fuel selector been moved post crash I would assume it would be moved to OFF as the plane was inverted
Wonder what it had for an engine. If it was a Rotax, a sudden engine failure would be very difficult to believe. (I had a 912UL for 20 years and can attest to this.)
It had 4 tanks and powered by a Rotax. Fuel selector set to wrong tanks maybe?
Well that certainly ignores the elephant in the room 😳
But it is best to fly a non functional plane on calm wind days.