Aircraft Crash - Cumbria
 

Sad news released this morning:

BBC News - Pilot dies in Cumbria light plane crash



Its been a tragic past few weeks for aircraft accidents up and down the country.

Our thoughts are with the family and friends of this poor victim.

Just heard it on the radio Steve...sad news indead, any more details was it a local based A/C??:(

Very sad month.
Is it the weather? Has it brought out people from hibernation (like me!) who perhaps needed a bit of refresher training?
Sure hope there are no more accidents & fatalities.

Hibernation
 

Interesting,this time last year I had flown 10 hrs,this year only 4,all because of poor weather.

Identifiation of the pilot appears in the North-West Evening Mail. A 64 year old local man.

Another sad day for aviation in the North...

Retired Eden dentist dies in plane crash (From The Westmorland Gazette)

What homebuilt type was it?

Type
 

It was a ZENAIR CH 601HD Zodiac

Hi Paul,

Sad news. The pilot (David Watt) was only in Carlisle a few weeks ago. He flew that blue rans micro as photographed in the article into Carlisle from his own grass strip near Kirkby Stephen.

Yes, very sad. Not sure about the rest of the country, but with the clear skies and 'good weather', came a pretty vicious easterly wind. (Scotland)

Have witnessed a number of interesting landings this month, a few ground loops, and a couple of very bent aeroplanes. No fatalities, thankfully, however, in this case it ended tragically.

I've known David for over 10 years as a member of IRC. We've lost a generous man who gave so much of his time for the benefit of others. R.I.P. from all in International Rescue Corps.

I believe this type of self-build was banned from flying in the Netherlands a good year or two ago due to a wing folding in the air killing both occupants near Hoorn

this was NOT the type that was banned in Holland after a spate of unexplained (at the time) accidents. The banned aircraft is the Zodiac 601 "XL", this one was an "HD" model. The wing structures are totally different

The HD and UL models share the same structure which has the parallel chord wing which joins to the fuselage/stub wing about 18 inches from the side of the cockpit. The main undercarriage on the UL and HD models is mounted to the stub wing. The XL model (now sorted in the UK) has a tapered wing which joins the fuselage right at the side of the fuselage. It has its undercarriage attached to the fuselage.

Rans6.... who also built a Zodiac 601UL a couple of years ago.

Good to hear. I stand corrected

A nice tribute to David here.

Tributes to pilot killed in light plane crash