Zenith CH701SP accident near Laddonia, MO
On July 27, 2017, a Zenith CH701SP (airplane) was involved in an accident near Laddonia, MO. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- July 27, 2017
- Place
- Laddonia, MO
- Aircraft
- Zenith CH701SP · Airplane
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 39.334°N, 91.686°W
- NTSB ID
- 20170728X94241
Official records · CEN17FA288
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn July 27, 2017, at 0452 central daylight time, a Zenith CH 701SP, N701XP, was destroyed when it impacted a bean field about 6.5 miles north of Laddonia, Missouri. The sport pilot and passenger were fatally injured. The airplane was registered to and operated by the pilot under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and no flight plan had been filed for the personal cross-country flight. The flight originated from Mexico Municipal Airport (MYJ), Mexico, Missouri, about 0440, and was en route to Whittman Regional Airport (OSH), Oshkosh, Wisconsin. According to the airport manager at MYJ, the airplane with the pilot and his passenger on board arrived late in the day on July 26, 2017. The pilot said he wanted to get an early morning start because he wanted to arrive at OSH when the control tower opened at 0700. A self-service fuel receipt charged to the pilot's credit card indicated that he purchased 17.8 gallons of fuel at 2038 on July 26. The manager said he believed the pilot and his passenger camped that evening next to the airplane. When the manager arrived at the airport the next morning, the airplane was gone. According to radar data provided by the U.S. Air Force/Civil Air Patrol, the airplane first appeared on radar at 0443:46 when it was about 5 miles east of MYJ. According to the data, the airplane's altitude varied between 2,000 and 2,800 feet above ground level (agl) as it maintained a northeast heading. The airplane then entered a right des
Probable cause
The pilot's decision to take off at night and continue visual flight into instrument meteorological conditions. which resulted in the pilot becoming spatially disoriented and losing control of the airplane. Contributing to the accident were the pilot's degraded decision-making due to his use of a combination of impairing prescription drugs, and the pilot's lack of instrument and night flight exper
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Browse: Missouri · Zenith aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
