Eleven skydivers and a pilot are dead after a plane crashed in Butler, Missouri, Sunday morning, in an incident local authorities call a “mass casualty event.”
According to
a spokesperson with Bates County Emergency Management, just before 11:30 a.m.,
Sunday, a private plane carrying skydivers left the Butler Memorial Airport but
turned around for an unknown reason before crashing near Business 49 Highway.
Eleven of
the 12 victims were skydivers. The other victim was the pilot of the plane. All
the people on the plane died. The victims’ names have not been released as of
Monday morning.
Bates County
Sheriff Chad Anderson confirmed multiple people witnessed the crash, including
family members of the victims.
The FAA
issued the following statement after the crash:
“This
information is preliminary and subject to change. A Pacific Aerospace P750
crashed while departing from Butler Memorial Airport in Missouri around 11:35
a.m. local time on Sunday, June 14. Air traffic services were not being
provided at the time. Twelve people were on board. The FAA and National Transportation
Safety Board (NTSB) will investigate. The NTSB will lead the investigation.“
According to
flight radar, a Pacific Aerospace 750XL took off from the airport Sunday
morning, and reached an altitude of about 13,400 feet before descending for
about two minutes at a rapid speed of 227 mph.
The aircraft
is capable of holding up to 17 passengers and serves as a common plane for
large skydiving parties.
The same
type of plane took off earlier Sunday morning for a separate flight. Flight
Aware shows the aircraft leaving the airport at 9:20 a.m. and returning about
22 minutes later. It then went back up in the air about an hour later.
At this
time, emergency crews and law enforcement with the Missouri State Highway
Patrol (MSHP), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National
Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are investigating.
Anderson
added that the investigation will take at least two days as crews work to
determine what led up to the crash and clear the wreckage. Those agencies are
also working to identify the 12 victims in the crash.
NTSB says
that their investigators will be at the scene on Monday to document the area,
examine the aircraft, and “look at the human, machine and environment as the
outline of the investigation.”
NTSB says
that a preliminary report will be available within 30 days. A final report with
a probable cause of the crash and contributing factors will be released in
12-24 months.
