The Springfield News-Leader reports that the crash happened Sunday evening at the Bolivar Municipal Airport, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) north of Springfield.

Police said in a news release that the pilot from St. Charles said the tail of the aircraft slid out upon landing, causing the aircraft to veer off the runway. The release says the plane overturned in a ditch on the east side of the runway.

According to the Flight Safety Foundation , a nonprofit that aims to improve and promote aviation safety, the aircraft was a replica Sopwith Camel, a British WWI single-seat fighter aircraft.