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12 dead in Missouri as skydiving plane crashes after takeoff

A plane carrying a pilot and 11 passengers on a skydiving outing in western Missouri crashed in a field and was engulfed in flames Sunday, killing all aboard, authorities said.

The crash happened shortly after the plane took off from a local airport around 11:30 a.m., and some of the occupants’ family members witnessed the crash, said Bates County Sheriff Chad Anderson. Clergy and volunteers went to the scene to assist the relatives, Anderson said, and officials were still working later to identify some of the victims and notify their next of kin.

A heap of blue and silver mangled metal wreckage lay in the grass near Butler Memorial Airport with a massive line-up of emergency vehicles on a nearby street.

Officials with the Federal Aviation Administration were on scene Sunday afternoon, Anderson said, and a team from the National Transportation Safety Board was en route to investigate.

The private plane was operated by Skydive Kansas City, said Dennis Jacobs, the acting airport manager and Bates County Emergency Management Agency director. It was identified as a single engine turboprop plane.

The Pacific Aerospace 750XL that crashed is an aircraft model that’s popular for skydiving and also has proven useful for carrying cargo, aerial surveying and medical evacuation flights. The aircraft can carry more than 4,000 pounds and is capable of taking off and landing on short runways, according to the manufacturer. The plane was built in 2010, according to FAA records.

“It had just taken off and made a left turn” before the crash, Jacobs said. “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.”

Emergency responders put out the fire shortly after the crash, Jacobs said, calling the scene “brutal.”

First responders have checked the area under the flight path and did not find anyone who might have tried to jump out before the crash, Jacobs said.

Sky diving companies operate in the region eight or nine months a year, with the season usually starting in late March or early April and lasting into October or November. Someone answering the phone at Skydive Kansas City declined to speak to a reporter from The Associated Press.


(KMBC-TV via AP)
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