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 Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2009 12:34 pm Post subject: Modesto Bee article on 601 |
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Oakdale deaths explained
Feds blame plane design for killing two fliers in 2006
By Adam Ashton
Federal safety investigators didn't give many answers about what caused
a plane flown by Chuck Billington and Dave Mesenheimer to crash outside
Oakdale three years ago.
That changed this week when the National Transportation Safety Board
moved to ground the two-seat plane they were flying when they crashed in
a walnut orchard near the Oakdale Airport.
The NTSB says the Zodiac CH-601XL has design flaws that can cause its
wings to flutter and break.
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crash
<http://media.modbee.com/smedia/2009/04/16/12/308-billingtoncrash.standalone.prod_affiliate.11.jpg>
<http://media.modbee.com/smedia/2009/04/16/20/877-LIVE_p0417_17b3mesen.standalone.prod_affiliate.11.jpg>chuck
<http://media.modbee.com/smedia/2009/04/16/20/257-LIVE_p0417_17b3billington.standalone.prod_affiliate.11.jpg>
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The National Transportation Safety Board this week cited six
incidents in its decision to recommend the grounding of the
two-seat CH-601XL, the model Chuck Billington and Dave Mesenheimer
flew when they crashed near the Oakdale Airport three years ago.
They were:
o *Feb. 8, 2006,* Billington's plane wings collapsed outside
of Oakdale, killing him and flight instructor Mesenheimer.
o *Nov. 4, 2006,* a CH-601XL broke up in flight near Yuba
City, causing two deaths.
o *Feb. 5, 2008,* a CH-601XL crashed near Barcelona, Spain,
after its wings folded up, causing two deaths.
o *April 7, 2008,* a CH-601XL broke up in flight near Polk
City, Fla., killing one.
o *Sept. 14, 2008,* a CH-601XL crashed in the Netherlands,
killing two.
o *March 3, 2009,* a CH-601XL broke up in flight while
cruising near Antelope Island, Utah, causing one death.
Eight others have died in five crashes since the one that killed
Billington and Mesenheimer.
"The fact they found issues with the plane does not surprise me," said
Billington's son, Tim. "My father and Mr. Mesenheimer had over 50 years
of experience flying between them. If anyone could have landed the plane
safely, they could. It saddens me that eight more people had to lose
their lives; eight more families had to endure the loss of their loved
ones before anyone recognized there was an issue with this particular
model of aircraft."
"Everybody I've talked to locally has always felt there's been a problem
with the aircraft design, and it's nice to know the NTSB has come around
to our way of thinking," said Larry Askew, who founded the Modesto
Flight Center with Mesenheimer more than 20 years ago.
"It kind of vindicates our feeling that there wasn't any pilot error."
Zenith Aircraft of Missouri designed the plane and sells it as a kit
that hobbyists can build. On its Web site, the company posted a response
to the NTSB report that read:
"We continue to believe wing flutter will not occur if the control
cables are adjusted properly. Nonetheless, we are carefully considering
the points raised in the memo, including whether the Zodiac CH-601XL is
susceptible to wing flutter. Each accident discussed in the NTSB memo
occurred under different circumstances. Some of the accidents are still
being investigated and what caused those accidents has not been determined."
The Federal Aviation Administration is reviewing the NTSB's
recommendation to ground the plane. The FAA has not moved to recall the
model.
Billington served for 20 years on the Modesto Irrigation District board
of directors. He owned three manufacturing companies and had a passion
for car racing.
He bought the plane from a Southern California pilot in late 2005 and
was flying with Mesenheimer to renew his pilot's license. Mesenheimer
had more than 30 years of experience as a flight instructor.
"At least it gives some very painful satisfaction that there was a
reason and there was something to it," Dick Hagerty, a longtime friend
of Billington, said about the NTSB report. "It clearly absolves everyone
here. They were flying it right, trusting that it was designed right."
Their crash was the first that the NTSB cited in describing its concerns
about the plane.
"The NTSB does not often recommend that all airplanes of a particular
type be prohibited from further flight," said NTSB Acting Chairman Mark
V. Rosenker. "In this case, we believe such action will save lives.
Unless the safety issues with this particular Zodiac model are
addressed, we are likely to see more accidents in which pilots and
passengers are killed in airplanes that they believed were safe to fly."
Dan Wilde
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