Wing component found away from wreckage after deadly Neosho plane crash
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A component of an experimental airplane's wing was found hundreds of feet from the wreckage following a plane crash near Neosho last month that killed two men.
The National Transportation Safety Board's preliminary report provides new details about the Sept. 7 crash shortly after takeoff from Neosho Hugh Robinson Airport.
The victims were identified as 73-year-old Karl Monroe Kemp, of Neosho, and 42-year-old Larry Scott Howard, of Granby.
Investigators say Kemp had flown to Neosho to help a friend with aircraft maintenance.
That work involved temporarily removing the airspeed indicator from the plane that later crashed and installing it in another aircraft for a separate flight.
They later returned the instrument to the original aircraft and tested it.
Kemp and Howard took off around 1:34 p.m.
A witness reported nothing unusual during takeoff or the initial climb.
However, dash camera footage recorded about two minutes later captured an object falling away from the aircraft as it made a left turn.
The airplane continued turning before entering a nose-down descent and disappearing behind trees.
Investigators found the wreckage in an open field east of the airport. Evidence indicated the airplane struck the ground in a nearly vertical, nose-down position.
A postcrash examination revealed that a section of the aircraft's left wing, identified as an inboard leading-edge PegaSTOL slat, was missing.
Law enforcement located the component a couple of days later, approximately 850 feet southwest of the crash site.
The aircraft was an 'experimental' Zenith STOL CH701.
The investigation continues.
