Sad News - Death of List Member DBVZ

[Av8r_Sed]

Kind thoughts go out to the family and close friends of Dwight B Van Zanen who died Monday afternoon in the crash of his Avid Mk IV near JAARS-Towsend Airport in North Carolina.

Link to WSOC TV story:
http://www.wsoctv.com/news/news/local/victim-union-co-plane-crash-was-former-fire-chief-/nLdrJ/

[Jfquebec]

Bad new ,,,:(

[Dorsal]

So very sorry to hear, thoughts and kind wishes to his family :(

[kitfox2009]

My condolences to the family. I believe the forum will miss him as well, he was an active contributor.
If there is a positive side, he probably died doing what he loved most.
Kind regards
Don

[Mnflyer]

So sorry to hear this my condolences to his family.

[Woodennickle]

My condolences to the family and friends of Dwight. I talked to Dwight about a year ago when I had my Kitfox up for sale. He was a truely polite gentilman to talk to. I enjoyed out convesation, he lived an interesting life. His post will be missed on this site.

[inzersv]

My heart and prayers go out to Dwight's family. I always enjoyed Dwight's posts to the Forum. I was hoping to visit with Dwight the next time he was in Washington since he lives a few miles from my son and his family. Now he flys with the angel's.

[Av8r3400]

God's speed, Dwight.

[HighWing]

Sad indeed! I enjoyed his posts. It feels like a piece of our family has been broken off. My thoughts and prayers are with his family as he looks like a grandpa as well as pilot.
Lowell

[rogerh12]

Dwight and I would email each other, he found some of my ideas interesting and I really looked forward to his postings and emails. It’s a real loss to aviation, to his family and those who really knew him I’m sure, and I feel like I have lost a real part of my inspiration to keep building as well.

Roger

[DanB]

So sorry to hear of Dwight's passing. Never an easy thing to hear and harder when part of our family. His posts will be missed and prayers go out to his family and friends.

[DesertFox4]

So sad to get back from vacation and hear of one of our members passing. Condolences and prayers to Dwight's family and friends and to all his forum buddies.
We'll all miss his contributions here on TeamKitfox.
R.I.P. Dwight.

[GWright6970]

Very sad indeed. God speed Dwight, God speed.

[LesH]

This is sad news. We all know the risks in flying, but losing a loved one and friend is always tough. My thoughts are with his family who should remember the joy he got from flying.

[rogerh12]

This was listed on the NTSB site on April 4th:


On March 26, 2012, about 1422 eastern daylight time, an experimental, amateur-built, Avid Flyer MK 4, N61410, impacted the ground during a balked landing at the JAARS-Townsend Airport (N52), Waxhaw, North Carolina. The certificated private pilot was fatally injured. The airplane came to rest in a nose down attitude at the base of several trees and sustained damage to the fuselage and all flight control surfaces. The airplane was registered to an operated by a private individual under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed for the flight. The flight had departed from the Fairfield County Airport (FDW), Winnsboro, South Carolina; however, the departure time is unknown.

Several eyewitnesses, who were pilots, stated that the airplane was observed with approximately a 30 degrees nose up pitch attitude about 30 feet above ground level. The airplane was then observed with a lower pitch attitude near tree top level of a nearby 70 foot tall tree and was observed banking to the left and right about 30 degrees. The airplane went behind an 85 foot tall pine tree and then the sound of impact was heard. One eyewitness reported that just prior to the accident the airplane entered a near vertical nose down attitude, entered a spin, and then disappeared into the trees. The eyewitnesses reported that the engine sounded as though it was producing full power during the accident sequence.

Initial examination revealed that the airplane impacted the ground in a wooded area and came to rest in a nose down attitude between two trees that were about 6 feet apart. The right wing remained attached to the fuselage and the left wing had been removed by rescues personnel. The ballistic recovery system parachute had not been deployed. The fuel tank, located in the right wing, had not been breached and contained approximately 5 gallons of a blue fluid similar in color to 100LL aviation fuel. The same color fluid was located in a hose forward of the firewall and connected to the engine. The cockpit fuel selector valve was found in the "ON" position and operated normally. The engine remained attached to the firewall and the wood propeller blades were impact separated at the propeller hub. Control continuity was confirmed to all flight control surfaces from the control column and from the rudder pedals to either their respective control surface or their respective fracture points.