12 Dead After Skydiving Plane Crashes at Butler, Missouri Airport on Sunday Morning

A plane operated by Skydive Kansas City left Butler Memorial Airport at approximately 11:30 a.m. Sunday and crashed shortly after, killing all 12 people aboard, including the pilot, according to Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop A spokesman Sgt. Justin Ewing.

The dead include 11 skydivers and one pilot. No names have been publicly released as of Sunday afternoon.

The aircraft was a 2010 Pacific Aerospace 750 XL, a fixed-wing single-engine turboprop registered to a Tennessee company, according to the Bates County Emergency Management Agency. FAA records list the operator as Skydive Kansas City, a company that runs skydiving operations at multiple locations including Overland Park, Topeka, and Indianapolis, according to KCUR.

What Went Wrong

Accounts of the sequence of events differ slightly across sources, and investigators have NOT determined a cause.

The Kansas City Star, citing Bates County emergency management officials, reported the crash happened during takeoff: the plane could not reach full power, began turning left, and stalled near Interstate 49 Business. KCUR and Fox4, by contrast, reported the plane left the airport, turned around for an unknown reason, and then crashed near Business 49 Highway. Both accounts place the crash site in close proximity to the highway adjacent to the airport.

CBS News confirmed the FAA stated that air traffic services "were not being provided at the time" of the crash, which is standard for small general aviation airports like Butler Memorial.

The Pacific Aerospace P750 is certified to carry up to 17 skydivers and is widely used in the skydiving industry, according to CBS News. Airport manager Dennis Jacobs told KCUR there were seven solo jumpers and two tandem pairs aboard. It is NOT confirmed whether any skydivers exited the aircraft before it went down.

Emergency responders received a call that a plane was down and engulfed in fire around 11:30 a.m., according to Sgt. Ewing.

Scene and Response

Business 49 Highway near the airport was shut down in both directions. Jacobs told KCUR he expects the highway closure to last two days due to the proximity of the crash site to the road. The airport itself remains open, but training flights are grounded and instrument approaches and departures are suspended as of Sunday afternoon.

A family notification center was established at the Osage Valley Electric Company on the south perimeter of the airport, according to the Kansas City Star.

Missouri Highway Patrol, the Bates County Sheriff's Office, and the Butler Police Department all responded. The FAA and NTSB launched investigations. Sgt. Ewing confirmed the NTSB is taking the lead.

Prior Incident at the Same Location

This is NOT the first serious aviation incident at Butler Memorial Airport tied to skydiving. In 2024, a skydiving plane crashed near the same airport after a skydiver's deployed parachute struck the aircraft's tail, causing loss of control, according to an FAA report cited by the Kansas City Star. No one was injured in that incident. The NTSB will presumably examine whether any prior safety concerns at this operation are relevant to Sunday's crash.

Regulatory Context

The skydiving industry operates under FAA oversight, but critics have long argued that Part 91 general aviation (the regulatory framework covering most skydiving aircraft) carries lighter safety requirements than commercial aviation under Part 121. Planes used for skydiving can be older, may not require the same maintenance documentation thresholds, and operate at small airports without active air traffic control. These regulatory gaps potentially create elevated risk for paying customers who may not fully understand the distinction between a skydiving flight and a commercial airline flight. Whether those concerns are relevant to this specific crash is unknown. The investigation has barely begun, and NO mechanical or regulatory deficiency has been identified as a cause.

What Comes Next

The NTSB typically releases a preliminary factual report within 30 days of an aviation accident. A full probable cause determination can take 12 to 24 months. The central unresolved question as of June 14, 2026: whether the plane experienced a mechanical failure during takeoff, as Bates County officials suggested, or whether something prompted an in-flight turnback before the stall, as Fox4 and KCUR reported. Those two scenarios point toward different causal chains, and the flight data and physical evidence at the crash site will determine which account is accurate.