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A plane carrying the pilot and 11 passengers who were planning to go diving on a sunny afternoon crashed Sunday in Missouri, killing all on board, authorities said.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol said in a statement that troopers were at the scene of the crash, assisting the Butler Police Department and the Bates County Sheriff’s Office. The crash happened near Butler Memorial Airport. The town of Butler has a population of about 4,300 and is approximately 105 miles south of Kansas City.
Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Justin Ewing said the plane was taking people into the sky. Emergency services received a call that the plane had crashed and burst into flames around 11:30 a.m. local time on Sunday, he said.
“It got to the area near the airport, but I think they closed the road as a precaution,” Ewing said.
A pile of blue and silver metal lay on the grass near the airport with a line of emergency vehicles on the road next to it.
Teams from the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) were en route to the crash site Sunday afternoon to investigate, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
The private plane was operated by Skydive Kansas City, said Dennis Jacobs, acting airport manager and director of the Bates County Emergency Management Agency.
“It was just starting to make a left turn” before the crash, Jacobs said. “In my opinion, I think it’s losing power, and he was trying to pass on the highway and on the ground, he just stopped and went down nose first and caught fire.”
Emergency crews were able to put out the fire shortly after the crash, Jacobs said, calling the scene “brutal.”
First responders checked the area below the runway and did not find anyone who may have attempted to jump before the crash, Jacobs said.
The crashed Pacific Aerospace 750XL is a single-engine turboprop aircraft model popular for skydiving but has also proven useful for other applications, including cargo, aerial survey and medical evacuation flights. The plane can carry up to 17 skydivers and can take off and land on short runways. The plane that crashed was built in 2010, according to FAA records.
‘The entire history of skydiving accidents’
The small airport serves about 30 airlines, all privately owned, including dust removal companies and skydiving operators, Ewing said.
Skydiving companies operate in the region eight or nine months a year, with the season usually starting in late March or early April and continuing into October or November. Someone who answered the phone at Skydive Kansas City declined to speak with an Associated Press reporter.
It is not yet known what factors may have contributed to or caused the crash, Ewing said, and those details will be part of an investigation by NTSB officials.
Aviation safety expert, Jeff Guzzetti, said that lack of maintenance has been the cause of many accidents of skydiving planes because these companies are not at the highest level under FAA rules.
Guzzetti said skydiving companies are governed by the same rules as any private jet owner and not the strict rules followed by charter pilots and airlines.
“There’s been a whole history of skydiving accidents because of a lack of care and a lack of safety culture,” said Guzzetti, a former accident investigator for both the NTSB and the FAA.
