12 Killed After Skydiving Plane Crashes and Erupts in Flames

A skydiving plane carrying 12 people crashed in a Missouri field and burst into flames Sunday, killing everyone on board, authorities said.

The single-engine turboprop plane was carrying a pilot and 11 passengers on a skydiving outing when it went down shortly after taking off from Butler Memorial Airport at around 11:30 a.m., according to officials.

Bates County Sheriff Chad Anderson said some of the victims’ family members witnessed the crash. Clergy and volunteers were brought to the scene to help comfort devastated relatives as officials worked to identify the victims and notify their families.

The wreckage was found in a grassy field near the airport, where twisted blue and silver metal was left scattered near a large line of emergency vehicles.

The private plane was operated by Skydive Kansas City, according to Dennis Jacobs, the acting airport manager and director of the Bates County Emergency Management Agency.

Jacobs said the aircraft had just taken off and made a left turn before it crashed.

“In my opinion, I think it was losing power, and he was trying to make it over to the highway and land, and he stalled and went down nose first and caught fire,” Jacobs said.

Emergency crews quickly put out the fire, but Jacobs described the crash scene as “brutal.”

First responders searched the area under the plane’s flight path and did not find anyone who may have tried to jump out before impact, Jacobs said.

The aircraft was identified as a Pacific Aerospace 750XL, a model often used for skydiving, cargo transport, aerial surveying and medical evacuation flights. According to the manufacturer, the plane can carry more than 4,000 pounds and is designed to take off and land on short runways.

FAA records show the plane was built in 2010.

Officials from the Federal Aviation Administration were at the scene Sunday afternoon, and a team from the National Transportation Safety Board was on the way to investigate.

Missouri Highway Patrol Sgt. Justin Ewing said it was not yet clear what caused the crash. Those details will be part of the federal investigation.

The sheriff said the public was safe and that the crash “appears to be an accident.”

The crash happened on a sunny day in the area.

Skydive Kansas City declined to comment when reached by The Associated Press.

Skydiving companies typically operate in the region for eight or nine months each year, with the season usually running from late March or early April into October or November.

Aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti said poor maintenance has been a factor in several previous skydiving plane crashes. Guzzetti, a former crash investigator for both the NTSB and FAA, said skydiving companies are not held to the same strict federal standards as charter flight operators or airlines.

“There’s been a whole history of skydiving accidents for inadequate maintenance and deficient safety culture,” Guzzetti said.

The NTSB has raised concerns in the past about oversight of skydiving operators. After a 2019 crash in Hawaii killed 11 people, the agency said the FAA’s regulatory system was not strong enough to ensure the safety of skydiving flights.

Butler Memorial Airport is a small facility that serves about 30 privately owned aircraft, including crop dusting companies and skydiving operators, Jacobs said.

Butler is a small town of about 4,300 people roughly 65 miles south of Kansas City.

The airport and the highway beside it were expected to remain closed while federal investigators examined the crash site.