Tuesday, March 31, 2015

2 PEOPLE KILLED IN A ZENITH ZODIAC CH601 XL PLANE CRASH NEAR PLEASANTON, KANSAS






MARCH 31, 2015

PLEASANTON, KS (KCTV)

Two people have been killed in a small plane crash near Pleasanton, KS, Tuesday afternoon.

The Kansas Highway Patrol is on scene and says it happened on South Ross Lane near East 1175th Road in the Linn County city. 

The National Transportation Safety Board said the crash involved a red and white Zenith Zodiac CH601 XL.  These are experimental amateur-built planes and there have been crashes of these planes in the past.

The publisher and editor of the Linn County News said the aircraft crashed shortly after taking off from a private airstrip. Jackie Taylor arrived at the scene about 4:30 p.m. to find the Kansas Highway Patrol and other agencies battling flames.

She said it's a small community and everyone knows everyone, especially in the flying community. 

“Everyone's freaking out that it's someone they know,” Taylor said. 

The type of aircraft that crashed is a Zenith model, an experimental plane.  It's a small aircraft that someone would build themselves. The FAA has to approve it and comes out to inspect it at various points during the building process, especially before the first flight. 

A local pilot says it takes about a year or longer to build an experimental plane such as this type. She said they are very safe  (yah, sure, man) and not much different than an aircraft coming off the assembly line (this guy must be joking). 

Pleasanton is located just over 60 miles south of the Kansas City metro. 
Source:www.kctv.com