Friday, October 09, 2020

Cessna 150H, N22979: Accident occurred October 04, 2020 at Rimrock Airport (48AZ), Arizona

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed.

The National Transportation Safety Board did not travel to the scene of this accident.

Additional Participating Entity: 
Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; Scottsdale, Arizona 


Location: Rimrock, AZ
Accident Number: WPR21LA005
Date & Time: October 4, 2020, 19:24 Local 
Registration: N22979
Aircraft: Cessna 150 
Injuries: 1 None
Flight Conducted Under:

Aircraft and Owner/Operator Information

Aircraft Make: Cessna 
Registration: N22979
Model/Series: 150 H 
Aircraft Category: Airplane
Amateur Built: No
Operator: 
Operating Certificate(s) Held:None
Operator Designator Code:

Meteorological Information and Flight Plan

Conditions at Accident Site: 
Condition of Light:
Observation Facility, Elevation: SEZ,4830 ft msl
Observation Time:
Distance from Accident Site:
Temperature/Dew Point:
Lowest Cloud Condition: 
Wind Speed/Gusts, Direction: / ,
Lowest Ceiling:
Visibility:
Altimeter Setting:
Type of Flight Plan Filed:
Departure Point: Cottonwood, AZ (P52)
Destination: Rimrock, AZ (O48)

Wreckage and Impact Information

Crew Injuries: 1 None Aircraft Damage: Substantial
Passenger Injuries: Aircraft Fire: None
Ground Injuries: Aircraft Explosion: None
Total Injuries: 1 None 
Latitude, Longitude: 34.650856,-111.7882 (est)

Cessna 180, N3934B: Incident occurred October 05, 2020 in Fairbanks, Alaska

Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; Fairbanks, Alaska

Right wing tip struck ground when pilot lost control of the aircraft after the wheel was damaged on landing. 


Date: 05-OCT-20
Time: 22:30:00Z
Regis#: N3934B
Aircraft Make: CESSNA
Aircraft Model: C180
Event Type: INCIDENT
Highest Injury: NONE
Aircraft Missing: No
Damage: MINOR
Activity: UNKNOWN
Flight Phase: LANDING (LDG)
City: FAIRBANKS
State: ALASKA

Czech Aircraft Works SportCruiser, N251SC: Fatal accident occurred October 07, 2020 in Waterloo, Lauderdale County, Alabama

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed.

The National Transportation Safety Board traveled to the scene of this accident.

Additional Participating Entity: 
Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; Birmingham, Alabama 


Location: Waterloo, AL 
Accident Number: ERA21FA010
Date & Time: October 7, 2020, 12:30 Local 
Registration: N251SC
Aircraft: CZECH SPORT CRUISER 
Injuries: 1 Fatal
Flight Conducted Under:

On October 7, 2020, about 1230 central daylight time, a Czech Aircraft Works Sport Cruiser, N251SC, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Waterloo, Alabama. The pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.

According to the pilot’s spouse, the pilot departed McKinney National Airport (TKI), McKinney, Texas earlier on the day of the accident, flew to Ripley Airport (25M), Ripley, Mississippi to refuel the airplane, and then departed for his home airport in Oakridge, Tennessee.

According to initial information obtained from the Federal Aviation Administration, about 35 minutes after takeoff from 25M the airplane was in level flight on a heading of 070° and at an altitude of 3,500 ft when radar contact was lost. The pilot was not in radio communication with air traffic control at the time of the accident.

The airplane was subsequently located in a heavily wooded area. It came to rest inverted and crushed. All flight control surfaces were located at the accident site and flight control continuity was established throughout the airframe. The engine remained attached to the airframe and the engine controls were crushed. The propeller blades were separated from the propeller hub and all blades were located within the debris field. The propeller hub was separated from the engine and also located within the debris field.

Aircraft and Owner/Operator Information

Aircraft Make: CZECH 
Registration: N251SC
Model/Series: SPORT CRUISER NO SERIES
Aircraft Category: Airplane
Amateur Built: No
Operator: 
Operating Certificate(s) Held: None
Operator Designator Code:

Meteorological Information and Flight Plan

Conditions at Accident Site: VMC
Condition of Light: Day
Observation Facility, Elevation: KCRX,427 ft msl 
Observation Time: 12:35 Local
Distance from Accident Site: 22 Nautical Miles 
Temperature/Dew Point: 25°C /10°C
Lowest Cloud Condition: 
Wind Speed/Gusts, Direction: / ,
Lowest Ceiling: None 
Visibility: 10 miles
Altimeter Setting: 30.11 inches Hg 
Type of Flight Plan Filed:
Departure Point: McKinney, TX (TKI) 
Destination: Oak Ridge, TN (TN08)

Wreckage and Impact Information

Crew Injuries: 1 Fatal 
Aircraft Damage: Substantial
Passenger Injuries: N/A 
Aircraft Fire: None
Ground Injuries: N/A 
Aircraft Explosion: None
Total Injuries: 1 Fatal 
Latitude, Longitude: 34.973518,-88.156303 (est)

Those who may have information that might be relevant to the National Transportation Safety Board investigation may contact them by email eyewitnessreport@ntsb.gov, and any friends and family who want to contact investigators about the accident should email assistance@ntsb.gov.

Jerel Zarestky

Jerel Zarestky with his daughter Caitlin Sale and her family. This pictures was one of the last taken as a family before Jerel Zarestky died.






OAK RIDGE, Tennessee (WATE) – Jerel Zarestky was on his way back home when his plane crashed in northern Alabama on Wednesday.

Two of his daughters, Caitlin Sale and Jill Zaretsky, said their father took a solo trip in his Czech Aircraft Works SportCruiser to visit family and friends across the country.

“His love of flying was only second to the love of his family. Family came first,” Sale said.

Sale said that one reason for the trip was so her father could meet his 3-month-old grandson in Colorado for the first time.

Jill Zaretsky said her father and mother had been married for nearly 50 years. They would have celebrated their 50th anniversary in May 2021.

Jerel Zarestky lived in Oak Ridge with his wife. His daughters said he was very hardworking, loving and funny.

“He’s been a really active member of the Oak Ridge pickleball group, and he’s kind of known as a jokester there. We know him as the purveyor of great dad jokes. If there’s a bad pun, he’s going to find it,” Sale said.

His daughters said he was very meticulous and never did anything halfway. Even with pickleball, Jill Zarestky said, he might have been slow, but he knew how to hit the ball in such a precise manner.

It was the same for cooking, playing cards and pretty much everything in his life.

“He took a lot of pride in everything that he did, from working as a physicist at the (Oak Ridge) National Lab, to helping us with projects around the house on this last trip he came to visit us,” Sale said.

They said if there was ever a simple way to do something, he would do the opposite. Despite that though, Jill Zarestky said he was an easy person to be around.

“He wasn’t demanding, didn’t expect a lot of others. He showed up and he did what needed to be done. He took you as you are and it didn’t need to be a production,” Jill Zarestky said.

He started working at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 1979 as an experimental physicist, and retired within the last 10 years. Ever since he retired though, his daughters said he was able to become more active and follow his dreams of flying.

He started off flying small model planes, but once he retired, he got his pilots license and bought a plane.

“There was never a free moment where he wasn’t down at his hanger helping somebody with their airplane or offering to take somebody up for a ride,” Sale said.

The daughters said his hangar in Oak Ridge was decked out with special lounge chairs, a popcorn maker and even an ice cream maker. Sale said her father loved flying the most when he could share that time with his family.

“Being out there, you could tell it was good for his soul. But when we got to share that with you, it just, like he almost got giddy like a little kid,” Sale said.

His meticulousness played a role in his flying as well. The daughters said that’s one reason why they couldn’t believe their father was gone.

Sale said if there was anyone she wholeheartedly trusted flying a plane, it was her dad.

“We don’t have any closure on what happened….he’s so meticulous. He’s so regimented and checking and double-checking, triple-checking everything. What could’ve happened,” Sale asked.

Jill Zaretsky said her father often flew his planes by himself. Their mother is afraid of heights and gets a little motion sickness. She said her mom thoroughly enjoyed hanging out at his hangar, waiting for him to fly back.

For his last trip, their mom flew to Colorado on a commercial flight and originally planned on staying with Sale for a couple of weeks, while Jerel Zareskty flew to see more family and friends.

“He flew from Tennessee to Iowa and visited his brother and some of our other family, and then he came to Colorado and visited us. He was here for about a week. And then he was making his way back to Tennessee slowly. He visited a friend in New Mexico and then a friend in Texas,” Jill Zarestky said.

His daughters said they have so many questions about his accident that they want answered. All they know right now is that he was taken too soon.

“I’m going to miss calling him when something good happens,” Jill Zarestky said.

“He’s my dad. When something goes wrong, I go to him,” Sale said.