A longtime pilot with deep ties to Batesville is being remembered after he and a passenger were killed in a plane crash near Neosho, Missouri.
Karl Monroe Kemp, 73, of Neosho, was piloting a Zenith STOL CH 701 when the aircraft crashed September 7 near the Camp Crowder area in southern Neosho. His passenger, Larry Scott Howard, 42, of Granby, Missouri, was also killed.
Authorities were alerted to a possible aircraft crash at approximately 1:40 p.m., but emergency responders initially did not know exactly where the plane had gone down. A Neosho Police Department drone located the wreckage approximately 40 minutes later near the Fort Crowder shooting range.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash. The NTSB said preliminary information indicated the Zenith CH 701 crashed into a field under circumstances that were still unknown. Investigators are examining the pilot, aircraft and operating environment as part of the investigation. No official cause of the crash has been announced.
Kemp’s death has a significant connection to Batesville and north-central Arkansas.
According to his obituary, Kemp and his family moved to Arkansas in 1991 when he became Information Technology Director at Arkansas College, now Lyon College, in Batesville.
Kemp left Lyon College in 2004 and established Ozark Information Services with his son Josh. He later served as Senior Vice President of Information Technology for First Community Bank.
Batesville was also where Kemp finally pursued a lifelong dream of becoming a pilot.
His obituary says Kemp began taking flying lessons in July 1999 and completed his first solo flight on September 9, 1999.
Kemp went on to serve on the Batesville Airport Commission and participated in the Experimental Aircraft Association’s Young Eagles program, taking young people flying and introducing them to aviation.
He spent years working on and flying aircraft before eventually purchasing the Zenith STOL CH 701 that became his retirement airplane.
A pilot profile Kemp maintained with the Zenith Aircraft Builders and Flyers community listed approximately 2,000 hours of flying experience, mostly in high-performance and complex aircraft, along with experience flying the CH 701.
Friends and fellow pilots remembered Kemp following the crash as an experienced pilot and a man who enjoyed sharing aviation with others. Steve Burnett, the recently retired manager of the Monett Airport, told KODE/KSNF that Kemp was the type of person people wanted to be around and was always willing to take someone flying.
Kemp’s obituary lists his wife, Terry, along with 4 sons, including Josh Kemp of Batesville and Seth Kemp of Fayetteville.
Kemp was born November 7, 1952, making him 73 at the time of his death. Initial television reports identified him as 72.
The investigation into what caused the September 7 crash remains ongoing.
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