Twelve people killed as plane on skydiving flight crashes in US
Updated . First published at
A plane carrying 11 skydivers and a pilot in the Midwestern United States has crashed overnight killing all aboard.
Emergency services are at the crash site near the Butler Memorial Airport, just outside the small town of Butler in Missouri, about 100kms south of Kansas City, reports Associated Press.
Emergency services at the scene of a plane crash in Missouri which killed 12 people. AP
A spokesperson for the Missouri Highway Patrol said emergency services were at the crash site.
Missouri Highway Patrol Sergeant. Justin Ewing said the plane was taking people up to skydive. Emergency services received a call that a plane was down and engulfed in fire about 11.30am on Sunday (US Central time), he said.
Emergency responders were able to extinguish the fire shortly after the crash, Ewing said, calling the scene “brutal.”
Authorities say the plane was operated by Skydive Kansas City, said
“It had just taken off and made a left turn” before the crash, said Dennis Jacobs, the acting airport manager and Bates County Emergency Management Agency director.
“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.”
The Pacific Aerospace 750XL that crashed is a single engine turboprop plane model that’s popular for skydiving but has also proven useful for other uses, including cargo, aerial surveying and medical evacuation flights
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