Missouri plane crash kills 12 near Butler airport
Authorities said the aircraft went down near Butler Memorial Airport while carrying people for a skydiving flight.
By James Whitfield · Staff Writer
2 min read
At least 12 people died Sunday when a plane crashed near Butler Memorial Airport in western Missouri, state authorities said. The crash drew federal investigators to Bates County and left no reported survivors among those on board.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol said on X that troopers were assisting the Butler Police Department and the Bates County Sheriff’s Office at the site of a fatal crash near the airport. The patrol said early reports showed all 12 occupants had died.
Missouri Highway Patrol Sgt. Justin Ewing said the aircraft had been carrying people for a skydiving flight. He said emergency crews were alerted at about 11:30 a.m. local time, or 16:30 GMT, after receiving a report that a plane had gone down and caught fire.
Responders put out the fire shortly after the crash, Ewing said. He described the scene as “brutal,” according to Al Jazeera.
The aircraft came down in a field next to Butler Memorial Airport, Ewing said. He also said authorities were closing a nearby roadway as a precaution.
Federal investigators at the scene
The National Transportation Safety Board was at the crash site and investigating, Ewing said. Authorities had not immediately released a cause for the crash.
The names of the people killed were also not immediately made public, according to authorities. No additional information about the aircraft, its operator or the flight path was released in the initial reports.
Butler Memorial Airport is in Bates County, south of Kansas City, the largest city in Missouri. Local police, county deputies and state troopers were involved in the response, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
The crash occurred on a Sunday morning and involved an aircraft being used for a skydiving trip, according to Ewing. The National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation is expected to examine the circumstances of the flight and the crash, though officials had not announced findings in the immediate aftermath.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.