Pitts S1S N401MS

Summary

On 31 December 2025 at about 22:03 local time, a Pitts S1S registered N401MS was involved in an accident near Carbondale, Illinois, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. No probable cause has been published yet; this accident is still under investigation.

Date

31 December 2025 at 22:03

Classification

Accident

Location

Carbondale, Illinois, United States

Nearest airport

Southern Illinois (MDH)

Coordinates

37.7698, -89.2455

Aircraft

Pitts S1S

Registration

N401MS

Category

Airplane

Year built

2015

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Carbondale → Carbondale

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN26LA074

1 person had minor injuries.

The NTSB has not published a probable cause for this record. The investigation is still open; a final report usually follows one to two years after the accident.

Nothing about the cause is stated here that is not in the source record.

Read the full NTSB narrative

On December 31, 2025, at 1603 central standard time, a Pitts S1S airplane, N401MS, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Carbondale, Illinois. The pilot received minor injuries. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The pilot reported that he had completed three touch-and-go landings on runway 36R. He then completed a low approach over runway 18L and began a climb near the departure end of the runway. Upon reaching 400 ft above ground level (agl), the engine lost power. The pilot was able to momentarily restore partial power by manually actuating the emergency fuel pump; however, the engine lost power again. Unable to maintain altitude, the pilot completed a forced landing on an airport perimeter road, then exited the road to the right and struck a power pole. The left wing separated from the airplane during the impact. The tail mounted video camera captured the accident sequence, and the video was provided for the investigation. The airplane’s engine monitoring system data card and the airplane have been retained for further examination.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.