The aircraft went down near Butler Memorial Airport shortly after takeoff Sunday morning.
BUTLER, MO — A plane carrying 11 skydivers and a pilot crashed Sunday near Butler Memorial Airport in western Missouri, killing everyone on board and sending local, state and federal investigators to a smoking field beside the small airport.
The crash was reported around 11:30 a.m. as the aircraft was taking people up for a skydiving outing, authorities said. The deaths made the scene a mass-casualty response in Bates County, about 65 miles south of Kansas City. The cause was not immediately known Sunday afternoon, and officials said federal aviation investigators would lead the inquiry.
The aircraft crashed in a field next to the airport and caught fire after going down, Missouri Highway Patrol Sgt. Justin Ewing said. Troopers joined Butler police, Bates County deputies, firefighters and emergency medical crews at the site. “It landed in a field adjacent to the airport,” Ewing said as authorities closed roads nearby and kept people away from the wreckage. Emergency crews found no survivors. Officials said the plane had been carrying passengers who planned to skydive on a sunny Sunday. The airport, a small local field used by private aircraft and skydiving operations, was shut down as responders worked through the afternoon.
Bates County officials said the aircraft was a Pacific Aerospace 750XL, a single-engine turboprop often used for skydiving because it can carry jumpers and operate from shorter runways. Local officials said the plane appeared to have trouble after takeoff, but they stopped short of naming a cause. Bates County Sheriff Chad Anderson said there was no early sign of a criminal act or terrorism. He said the crash was being treated as an accident while investigators worked to document the scene. Authorities had not released the names, ages or hometowns of the 12 people killed by Sunday afternoon. Officials also said positive identification would take time because of the fire and the condition of the wreckage.
The crash happened near Business 49, a road that runs close to Butler Memorial Airport. The Bates County Sheriff’s Office said the road was closed in both directions for an undetermined time after the crash. Video and images from the area showed a heap of blue and silver metal in grass, with smoke rising as emergency vehicles lined the street. The airport serves the Butler area, a community of about 4,300 people. Skydive Kansas City operates from the airport, and a representative for the business said Sunday that a statement was being prepared. Officials did not immediately say whether the company owned, leased or operated the aircraft involved in the crash.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating. The FAA was at the scene Sunday, and the NTSB was expected to take charge of the safety investigation. That work usually includes securing the wreckage, reviewing maintenance records, checking pilot records, interviewing witnesses and examining weather, weight, balance and engine performance. Local officials said recovery work would move carefully so federal investigators could inspect the site before the aircraft was removed. No charges had been announced, and no hearing or formal finding had been scheduled. A preliminary federal report is expected later, but a final cause may take much longer.
The scene was especially painful because some relatives and friends of people on the plane were near the airport when it went down. Clergy and volunteers came to support families as officials gathered information and tried to confirm who had been aboard. Anderson described the response as difficult for first responders and families waiting for news. Firefighters quickly put out the flames, but officials said the damage left little chance for rescue. The skydiving group had been preparing for what was supposed to be a routine recreational flight. By early afternoon, the airport area had become a line of patrol vehicles, fire trucks, ambulances and investigators moving around the closed roadway.
Authorities said Sunday that all 12 people aboard were dead and that the crash site remained under investigation. The next major step is the NTSB’s on-scene review, followed by identification of the victims and an early federal report on the flight’s final moments.
Author note: Last updated June 14, 2026.