Missouri skydiving crash kills 12 after takeoff

A plane carrying skydivers crashed shortly after takeoff in western Missouri on Sunday, killing all 12 people on board and leaving a close-knit skydiving community in mourning.

The private aircraft went down near Butler Memorial Airport in Butler, about 60 miles south of Kansas City. It was supporting operations for Skydive Kansas City and crashed around noon, the company said in a statement reported by KCTV. Authorities said the dead included 11 skydivers and the pilot.

Dennis Jacobs, director of the local county emergency management department, told KMBC the aircraft was carrying nine experienced skydivers, two tandem jumpers and a pilot. He said the plane had taken off shortly before turning and nosediving about 300 yards from the runway.

Bailey Reed, who witnessed the crash, told CBS News the aircraft hit the ground nearly vertical.

“It was completely perpendicular with the wings to the sky, to the ground, going fast. And then they just hit the ground,” Reed said. “The ground and trees around it exploded and it just lit up in flames.”

Reed said the people aboard would not have had a chance to use parachutes.

“They didn’t have time to jump,” she said. “They were so low to the ground the parachutes wouldn’t have deployed and there was no way anyone could have jumped and survived that.”

Family members who had come to watch and cheer on their loved ones saw the crash unfold, CBS News reported.

Bates County Sheriff Chad Anderson offered condolences during a Sunday news conference.

“Our hearts go out to them,” Anderson said. “There’s nothing you can say to make it better. We just pray for their loved ones, their families and they can recover some sense of normalcy. Same thing with the first responders.”

He added: “At this point, this appears to be an accident.”

The names of those killed were not available Monday morning, with authorities saying next-of-kin notifications were still underway, The Guardian reported.

Skydive Kansas City said it was cooperating with authorities in Butler, the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board as investigators work to determine the cause.

“This is a devastating loss for everyone connected to Skydive Kansas City and for the wider skydiving community,” the company said. “Our deepest sympathies are with the families, friends, and loved ones of all who were lost.”

The company also asked for privacy and said its management and ownership team was focused on helping investigators and supporting staff and the broader skydiving community. “The entire team is in shock, and the community is close-knit,” it said.

The NTSB said investigators at the scene would document the wreckage and examine the aircraft. The agency said it would request radar data, weather information, maintenance records and the pilot’s medical records.

“NTSB investigators will look at the human, machine and environment as the outline of the investigation,” the agency said in a statement to The Guardian.

Robert Sumwalt, a former NTSB chair, told CBS News investigators would likely focus on the aircraft’s mechanical condition and engine, the pilot’s training and FAA oversight. He noted that Butler’s airport did not have a tower communicating with the pilot.

“Since this is a parachute operation and not a commercial operation, oftentimes the FAA doesn’t have the resources to oversee small operations like this,” Sumwalt said.

The crash resonated across the regional skydiving community. Charles Crinklaw, a skydiver with nearby Falcon Skydiving, told KSHB 41 that many of those aboard were people he knew personally.

“Everybody on that plane was somebody that I know,” he said. “I know four of them very, very well. They jumped with me on a regular basis.”

Crinklaw said one victim had worked with the United States Parachute Association, teaching new instructors how to be coaches. “It shocked everybody,” he said. “We just were walking around here numb for a while.”