12 dead in Missouri plane crash, authorities say

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A plane crashed in a Missouri field on Sunday during a skydiving outing, killing all twelve people on board, officials said.

Chad Anderson, the sheriff of Bates County, Missouri, told reporters that the plane crashed at roughly 11:30 a.m. CST, shortly after departing Butler Memorial Airport. The airport is roughly 60 miles outside of Kansas City.

KMBC-TV in Kansas City reported that Skydive Kansas City confirmed the flight, with 11 passengers and one pilot on board, was operating in support of its business. Anderson noted that some family members witnessed the crash.

The county sheriff said that he is unsure of “anything beyond” his understanding that the plane took off and then went down in an accident. He added that authorities do not suspect foul play.

Anderson said that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will handle the investigation into the incident. Anderson told reporters that a team from the FAA was already on the scene, with a team from the NTSB also on the way.

The FAA wrote Sunday afternoon on the social platform X that the aircraft was a Pacific Aerospace P750 and crashed at approximately 11:35 a.m. local time.

“At the time of the crash, the FAA was not providing air traffic control services,” the agency added. “The @NTSB will lead the investigation and provide updates.”

The NTSB, meanwhile, wrote on X at 5:30 p.m. EDT that its investigators “are traveling to the scene.” The Hill has reached out to the FAA and NTSB for further comment.

A photo of the wreckage captured by Mid America Live News shows the remnants of the plane engulfed in flames and smoke in a field off the side of the road.

Anderson noted Sunday that a host of local agencies responded to the incident, including firefighters and multiple coroner’s offices. He also said that the airport will be closed for an undetermined amount of time, and the NTSB and FAA will determine when it reopens.

The sheriff added that authorities were trying to identify family members of the deceased and notify them. He also stated that his office enlisted staffers and clergy members to the site of the crash to be with relatives, with volunteers also “tending to any needs” that family members have.

“Our hearts go out to them,” Anderson said. “There’s nothing we really can say to make it better. We just pray for them and their loved ones and their friends and their family, and hope that they can recover to some sense of normalcy if they can.

“Same thing with the first responders that respond to these kind of incidents, and we pray for them and acknowledge what they have to go through. And that is nothing compared to what the families are going through right now.”

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