Pilot and 11 skydivers dead after Missouri plane crash, officials say
By Cindy Von Quednow, CNN
(CNN) — A plane carrying 11 skydivers and a pilot crashed moments after takeoff at a western Missouri airport on Sunday, killing everyone aboard, authorities said.
The plane had just taken off from Butler Memorial Airport about 11:35 a.m. local time, the Federal Aviation Administration said, when it was unable to get visual altitude, made a sharp left turn and crashed about 300 yards from the runway, according to Dennis Jacobs, acting airport manager and Bates County emergency management director.
The exact cause of the crash remains under investigation, but it appears to be an accident, Bates County Sheriff Chad Anderson said during a news conference Sunday afternoon.
As the plane had just taken off, it had not reached the altitude to report to air traffic control, Jacobs told CNN.
Officials canvassed the crash site on foot and by drone to see if anyone was able to jump out of the plane before it crashed, Jacobs said.
The single-engine turboprop plane was operated by Skydive Kansas City, Jacobs said. Skydive KC declined to comment when contacted by CNN.
“It landed in a field adjacent to the airport, but I think they’re shutting down the roadway just as a precaution,” Missouri Highway Patrol Sgt. Justin Ewing told The Associated Press, adding the plane became engulfed in flames when it crashed.
The crash will be investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA has been notified, Ewing told CNN. NTSB investigators are expected to arrive at the scene of the crash on Monday to begin the process of documenting the crash site and examining the plane, a spokesperson told CNN.
The victims have not been publicly identified, as some families had not been notified of the incident, he added.
Some family members witnessed the crash, Anderson said during the news conference.
“This is tough,” said US Rep. Mark Alford, a Missouri Republican. “It’s a beautiful day here, blue skies, green grass, people out enjoying something that I think some of these were first-time skydivers preparing to skydive in a tandem formation.”
Nine of the victims were experienced skydivers, while two were going to participate in tandem jumps, Jacobs said.
Travis Phippen, who said he lost several friends in the crash, described the incident as “heartbreaking.”
“The skydiving community is incredibly close-knit, and several of the people on that plane had a profound impact on countless lives—including my own,” he said. “We all understand and accept that there are inherent risks in this sport, but losing so many friends and respected members of the community at once is absolutely devastating.”
The Missouri State Highway Patrol will assist in coordinating with family members who have arrived at the scene, Ewing said.
The Butler Police Department and the Bates County Sheriff’s Office are also on scene.
Butler Memorial Airport is a small, rural airport about an hour’s drive south of Kansas City. It has no scheduled commercial flights, Ewing said. Skydive KC is one of the few companies listed in pilot’s guides as providing service at the airport.
It has one runway that is nearly 4,000 feet long and no control tower. Pilots communicate using a common frequency where they announce their intentions. The airport will remain closed for an undetermined amount of time, the sheriff said.
In the past decade, there had been eight fatal aircraft crashes related to skydiving, resulting in 25 deaths, according to the US Parachute Association.
Near the same airport in May 2024, a pilot and six passengers on a skydiving flight jumped from a small plane right before it crashed. No one was killed in that incident.
Aircraft used for skydiving are regulated under Part 91 of FAA regulations, which also covers small general aviation aircraft flown by private pilots. The regulations are much less strict than Section 121 that covers most large commercial scheduled passenger aircraft.
During a press conference in 2019 addressing a skydiving plane crash that killed 11 people in Hawaii, NTSB board member Jennifer Homendy told reporters the FAA has ignored many suggestions for changing safety regulations of parachute plane operators.
“There is an inherent risk to parachuting and there are measures you take to mitigate that risk, but paying passengers should be able to count on an airworthy plane, an adequately trained pilot, a safe operator and adequate federal oversight of those operations,” Homendy said at the time.
The Pacific Aerospace 750XL that crashed Sunday was manufactured in 2010, according to FAA records. It is popular for skydiving but has also proven useful for other purposes like cargo, aerial surveying and medical evacuation flights, according to the AP. The aircraft can carry as many as 17 skydivers and can take off and land on short runways, the wire service reported.
The plane had completed two short flights Sunday morning, including one at 9:20 and 10:32 a.m., according to the flight tracking site FlightAware. FAA records show the aircraft was registered to SkyHi Aero, a company based in Tennessee.
Butler is about 65 miles south of Kansas City, Missouri. It has a population of about 4,600 people, according to the US Census.
This story has been updated with additional information.
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CNN’s Aaron Cooper, Leah Asmelash, Sneha Dhandapani and Julianna Bragg contributed to this report.
