12 Dead After Skydiving Plane Stalls and Crashes in Missouri

​BUTLER, Missouri — A sunny afternoon outing turned into a major aviation tragedy on Sunday morning when a private plane packed with skydivers suffered an apparent power loss, stalled, and crashed nose-first into a field, killing all 12 people on board.

​The single-engine turboprop aircraft, operated by Skydive Kansas City, went down at approximately 11:30 a.m. local time shortly after departing from Butler Memorial Airport, located roughly 65 miles south of Kansas City.

​According to Dennis Jacobs, the acting Butler airport manager and director of Bates County Emergency Management, the Pacific Aerospace 750XL struggled to gain altitude almost immediately after lifting off.

​”It had just taken off and made a left turn,” Jacobs said. “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.”

​A ‘Brutal’ Scene Near Highway 49

​The aircraft impacted a field adjacent to Business 49 Highway and immediately became engulfed in flames. First responders rushed to the site and managed to extinguish the blaze quickly, but Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Justin Ewing described the resulting scene as “brutal.”

​Images and video from the scene revealed a mangled, smoking heap of blue and silver metal surrounded by a massive line-up of emergency vehicles. Officials quickly shut down all lanes of Business 49 Highway stretching a half-mile north and south of the impact point. The roadway is expected to remain closed for at least two days while teams process the wreckage due to its close proximity to the tarmac.

​Authorities confirmed that the victims consisted of one pilot and 11 passengers associated with Skydive Kansas City. Investigators searched the entire flight path to see if anyone had managed to bail out before the impact, but Jacobs confirmed that no one had jumped. Among the passengers were seven individual jumpers and two tandem pairings.

​The identities of the deceased have not yet been released. When contacted by reporters, a representative from Skydive Kansas City declined to comment, stating only that they “cannot talk about this right now” before ending the call.

​The Aircraft and the Operator

​The plane involved in the accident was a Pacific Aerospace 750XL manufactured in 2010, according to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) records. The New Zealand-designed aircraft is highly favored by skydiving operators for its high-lift wings, powerful turboprop engine, short takeoff capabilities, and capacity to haul up to 17 skydivers to a jump altitude of 12,000 feet in roughly 10 minutes.

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​Skydive Kansas City has been a premier aviation fixture in the region since 1998, serving thrill-seekers from Kansas City, Topeka, and Overland Park. Founded by father-and-son duo John and Chris Hall, the company boasts a highly experienced legacy; John Hall has been jumping since 1973, while Chris competed in the ESPN X Games Pro Tour in 1996.

​Federal Investigation Underway

​The small, municipal Butler Memorial Airport serves about 30 privately owned aircraft, primarily local crop-dusters and weekend skydiving operators. While the airport remains open following the tragedy, all local training flights and instrument-guided landings and takeoffs have been temporarily suspended.

​Teams from both the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are en route to the site. The NTSB will assume the lead role in the investigation to determine the exact mechanical or operational failures that led to the fatal stall.