Brainderd.
According to the Times Free Press, the unidentified man was taking a flying lesson in a Zodiac 601 aircraft at the Collegedale Municipal Airport.The pilot trainee and his instructor were flying the plane at about 2,500 feet when the canopy came off. The trainee’s seat belt wasn’t fastened at the time and the man was thrown from the plane.
The instructor was not injured and was able to land the Zodiac 601 back at the airport. Police are not releasing the name of the pilot or the trainee at this time.
Authorities are currently searching the area for the missing pilot but News Channel 9 reports that it might be too late. Authorities do not believe that the man survived the incident.
Collegedale Municipal Airport employee Lowell Sterchi said that the pilot had his cellphone, as well as the instructor’s, on him when he was thrown from the plane. Local police are currently working to locate GPS signals from one of the phones.
Sterchi also said that the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board were notified about the crash but said that representatives from the organizations had not arrived on the scene yet.
The Zodiac 601 is a kit plane that is typically used for leisure flights and flight instruction. Here’s a video from the Zenith Air Company about the Zodiac 601.
