Zenith CH701 N56553

Summary

On 6 November 2015 at about 16:35 local time, a Zenith CH701 registered N56553 was involved in an accident near Okeechobee, Florida, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

6 November 2015 at 16:35

Classification

Accident

Location

Okeechobee, Florida, United States

Coordinates

27.2075, -80.8425

Aircraft

Zenith CH701

Registration

N56553

Category

Airplane

Year built

2007

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Homestead → Okeechobee

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA16FA033

1 person died.

An in-flight structural failure due to a severely corroded wing strut, which resulted in a loss of airplane control.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot was repositioning the experimental light-sport airplane that had neither been flown nor received a condition inspection in about 4 years. Witnesses near the accident site reported that the airplane was rocking back and forth when one or both wings folded up and back. The airplane entered an uncontrolled descent, impacted the ground in a residential area, and was destroyed by a postcrash fire. Two windscreen fragments, including one that was about 18 inches by 11.5 inches, were found on the ground about 150 ft northeast of the initial ground scar, opposite the airplane's direction of travel. Examination of the engine did not reveal any preimpact mechanical malfunctions; however, impact and fire damage precluded a functional check of the engine and its fuel and ignition systems. Metallurgical examination of the wings' front and rear struts revealed severe internal corrosion in all the struts and multiple separations. Lack of bending deformation suggested that the initial failure of the wing struts occurred in the left wing forward strut, likely as a result of normal operational loads applied to a severely corroded strut with a severely reduced cross-sectional area. The airplane was manufactured about 8 years before the accident and purchased by the current owner about 7 years before the accident. The pilot was operating the airplane without a current condition inspection or ferry permit authorization. Witness statements, the discovery of the windscreen fragments about 150 ft before the airplane's first contact with ground, and metallurgical examination of the wing struts suggest that the airplane experienced an in-flight structural failure due to corrosion of the wing struts, which resulted in a loss of airplane control.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.