Butler: A private aircraft carrying a pilot and 11 others on an skydiving outing in Missouri crashed into a field and burst into flames on Sunday shortly after departing Butler Memorial Airport, killing everyone on board, AP reported.
The single-engine turboprop, operated by Skydive Kansas City, went down around 11:30 a.m., according to Bates County Sheriff Chad Anderson. Family members of some of those aboard witnessed the plane come down, Anderson said.
A twisted pile of blue-and-silver wreckage lay in grass near the airport as a long line of emergency vehicles gathered on a nearby road. Clergy and volunteers went to the site to help relatives, Anderson said, while officials worked to identify the victims and notify next of kin.
Officials with the Federal Aviation Administration were at the site on Sunday afternoon, Anderson said, and a team from the National Transportation Safety Board was en route.
Dennis Jacobs, the acting airport manager and director of Bates County Emergency Management Agency, said the aircraft was operated by Skydive Kansas City and identified it as a single-engine turboprop. Jacobs described the moments before the crash: “It had just taken off and made a left turn. 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.”
Responders extinguished the fire at the wreckage soon after the impact, Jacobs said, calling the scene “brutal.” He added that first responders searched under the flight path and did not find anyone who might have jumped from the aircraft before it hit the ground.
The aircraft was a Pacific Aerospace 750XL, a model commonly used for skydiving operations and also employed for cargo, aerial surveying and medical-evacuation work. The manufacturer says the plane can carry more than 4,000 pounds (1,800 kilograms) and is capable of short-field takeoffs and landings. Federal Aviation Administration records list the aircraft as having been built in 2010.
Skydive Kansas City did not immediately comment; someone who answered the company’s phone declined to speak to an Associated Press reporter.
The skydiving season in the region typically runs eight to nine months, generally beginning in late March or April and continuing into October or November, officials noted.
It was a sunny day when the aircraft crashed. FlightAware, a digital flight-tracking service, shows the plane had completed two short flights Sunday before the fatal departure, with two flights logged Saturday and five on Friday.
Missouri Highway Patrol Sgt. Justin Ewing said investigators do not yet know what factors may have contributed to the crash; NTSB officials will examine those details.
