All 12 people on board a skydiving plane that crashed Sunday morning shortly after takeoff in Butler, Missouri, are presumed dead, according to Missouri State Highway Patrol.
The plane, operated by Skydive Kansas City, went down at around 11:30 a.m. near Butler Memorial Airport along Business Interstate 49, according to officials.
The aircraft was unable to gain altitude after taking off and made a sharp left turn before crashing, according to Butler Memorial Airport acting manager Dennis Jacobs. He said the pilot may have been attempting an emergency landing on the highway when the aircraft went down.
Butler County Sheriff Chad Anderson described the crash of the non-commercial plane as a “mass casualty” event during a Sunday afternoon news briefing, though he did not officially confirm the number of fatalities.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation, and authorities believe it was an accident, Anderson said.
A 911 call reporting the incident came in moments before the aircraft crashed, according to Anderson. Local law enforcement arrived to a scene engulfed in flames. Some family members of those on board witnessed the crash, he said.
“There’s there’s nothing we really can say to make it better,” he said. “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.”
Highway patrol officers are on the scene along with the Butler Police Department and Bates County Sheriff’s Office. Both Business Interstate 49 and the airport will be closed for an undisclosed period of time, Anderson said.
Video from the scene shows smoke billowing from the wreckage in a field.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it is collecting information on the crash and “will likely launch a team” to investigate. The Federal Aviation Administration is also expected to take part in the investigation.
Anderson said local law enforcement would begin the process of recovering and identifying the victims once federal investigators complete their initial review of the crash site.
The FAA and Skydive Kansas City did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
