CEN11LA168 · Ertz Mark G ZODIAC 601XL
Ertz Mark G ZODIAC 601XL and Cunningham MODEL-1 · Accident: ground collision while taxiing
Event
- NTSB case
- CEN11LA168
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Aircraft 1 · Ertz Mark G ZODIAC 601XL
- Aircraft type
- Ertz Mark ZODIAC 601
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N200BE
- Operator
- Ertz Mark G
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Southeast Iowa Regional Airport (BRL), Burlington, IATo Southeast Iowa Regional Airport (BRL), Burlington, IA
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Taxi · from runway
- Defining eventThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Ground collision
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Substantial
Aircraft 2 · Cunningham MODEL-1
- Aircraft type
- Cunningham MODEL-1
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N602CB
- Operator
- Edward Merchant
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Quincy Regional Airport Baldwin Field (UIN), Quincy, ILTo Southeast Iowa Regional Airport (BRL), Burlington, IA
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Taxi · from runway
- Defining eventThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Ground collision
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Minor
Cause areas
- Personnel issues › Action/decision
Approximate · Coordinates from the NTSB case API, which marks them as estimated or does not say; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
The pilot of the Zodiac made radio calls when he was 10 miles and 5 miles from the airport to inform other aircraft of his position. He also made position reports when he turned left onto the final leg of the traffic pattern, and again when he was on short final for landing. About 90 feet from the taxiway turnoff, the Zodiac was hit from the rear. The Zodiac pilot taxied off the runway and, looking back, he could see the Model 1, a red and white biplane, behind him. The horizontal and vertical stabilizers of the Zodiac were destroyed by the propeller strike from the Model 1. The Model 1 received minor damage to the engine cowl. The pilot of the Model 1, who was seated in the rear seat of the airplane during the flight, reported that he did not see the Zodiac prior to landing or while taxiing. The Model 1 was not equipped with either an installed or handheld radio.
Probable cause
The Model 1 pilot's inadequate visual lookout and subsequent failure to see and avoid the Zodiac.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record CEN11LA168
- Event ID
- 20110202X01241
- Case number
- CEN11LA168
- Dataset
- full-current
- Source SHA-256
- 5cf380f0061817c0331a6b2d8cc7e0ee3a79bea469a1001dc5c10e56f35f5ab3
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status, coordinates. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: 684e4c3144c8dc4ed5dea4ae616a60740d1740fcab9813b12a45bec3c672ae09; retrieved 2026-09-13T18:17:56.162Z.