12 people, including 11 skydivers and a pilot, have been confirmed dead after a private plane crashed shortly after takeoff in Missouri, the United States.
The aircraft went down near Butler Memorial Airport in Butler, Missouri, about 60 miles south of Kansas City on Sunday, June 14, 2026.
According to Skydive Kansas City, all 12 occupants on board died in the accident.
The company said the identities of the victims would not be released until their next of kin had been notified.
It added that it was cooperating with local authorities, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in the investigation.
The acting airport manager and Bates County emergency management director, Dennis Jacobs, said the single-engine turboprop plane departed around 11:20 a.m. local time but failed to gain sufficient altitude.
Jacobs added that the plane made a sharp left turn before crashing about 300 yards from the runway.
The NTSB identified the aircraft as a Pacific Aerospace 750XL.
Bates County Sheriff Chad Anderson described the incident as an apparent accident, noting that the aircraft was a local plane operating from the community airport rather than a commercial airliner.
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He also revealed that some family members of the victims witnessed the crash.
Investigators from the NTSB are expected to begin examining the crash site on Monday.
The agency said a final report determining the probable cause of the accident could take between 12 and 24 months to complete.
Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe said several state agencies had been deployed to assist with the response, including grief counselors to support the families affected by the tragedy.
The crash marks one of the deadliest skydiving-related aviation accidents in recent years.
According to the U.S. Parachute Association, there were 16 skydiving-related fatalities across the United States in 2025 from an estimated 3.5 million jumps.
The association also reported that, excluding the Missouri accident, eight fatal skydiving aircraft crashes over the past decade resulted in 25 deaths.
Skydive Kansas City, founded in 1998, was acquired in 2024 by Little Engine Ventures, an Indiana-based private equity firm that operates several skydiving businesses across the United States.
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