Replica WWI biplane crashes at southwest Missouri airport

BOLIVAR, Mo. (AP) — A replica World War I era biplane crashed and overturned on landing at an airport in southwest Missouri, leaving the 67-year-old pilot trapped but unhurt.

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.

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Information from: Springfield News-Leader, http://www.news-leader.com