CEN26FA311

On September 7, 2026, about 1337 central daylight time, an experimental STOL CH701 airplane, N101XV, sustained substantial damage when it was involved in an accident near Neosho, Missouri. The pilot and passenger sustained fatal injuries. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 personal flight. According to a friend, the pilot had flown to the Neosho Hugh Robinson Airport (EOS), Neosho, Missouri, to assist him with some airplane maintenance. The maintenance consisted of temporarily removing and installing the accident airplane airspeed indicator into another airplane to allow for a ferry flight. After that ferry flight, the airspeed indicator was reinstalled and “tested” in the accident airplane. The pilot departed in the accident airplane with another friend about 1334. A witness reported that the airplane departed EOS with no issues observed during the takeoff or initial climb. After he observed the initial climb, he got back into his vehicle and did not observe any further portion of the flight. At 1335:39, a dash camera video recording, positioned about 0.80 nautical miles east of the airport, captured the airplane on the left crosswind for runway 19. The airplane tracked west to east before starting a left turn toward the northwest at about 1335:47. At 1335:50, the recording showed an unknown object departing and falling away from the airplane. The airplane continued the left turn and entered a nose down descent before disappearing behind a tree line. The accident site was located in an open field about 0.48 nautical miles east of the departure end of runway 19. Impact ground scars and debris were consistent with the airplane impacting terrain in a nearly vertical nose down attitude (see figure 1). Figure 1. Accident site overview Postaccident examination revealed that the left inboard leading-edge PegaSTOL slat was separated and not found within the vicinity of the main wreckage. The PegaSTOL wing slat system is manufactured by Dédalius Aviation Inc. A couple of days after the accident, the leading-edge slat was found by law enforcement about 0.14 nautical miles southwest of the accident site (see figure 2). Figure 2. Left inboard leading-edge slat. The airplane was retained for further examination.