A private plane carrying skydivers crashed in the US state of Missouri on Sunday, killing all 12 people on board, officials said.
The crash occurred near Butler Memorial Airport – located about 60 miles (100 kilometers) south of Kansas City – shortly after the plane took off.
The aircraft was operated by Skydive Kansas City.
“Unfortunately, all 12 people on board lost their lives in the accident,” the skydiving company said in a statement.
The pilot of the plane was also among those killed.
what do we know?
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) identified the aircraft as a single-engine Pacific Aerospace P750.
Dennis Jacobs, acting airport manager and Bates County emergency management director, told news agency Reuters that the plane took off at about 11:20 p.m. CT (1620 UTC).
It did not gain visual altitude and was seen to turn sharply to the left before approaching a highway about 300 yards (274 m) short of the runway, Jacobs said.
Jacobs said first responders tried to search the flight path for anyone who might have tried to jump out of the plane, but found no signs of anyone doing so.
Missouri crash under investigation
The cause of the accident could not be immediately known.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) – which is leading the investigation into the incident – said in a statement that investigators were scheduled to arrive at the scene on Monday.
News agencies quoted the NTSB as saying that a final report on the cause of the accident is expected to be published in 12 to 24 months.
Bates County Sheriff Chad Anderson said at a news conference, “For all intents and purposes, (it) appears to be an accident.”
Some family members of the passengers witnessed the accident, Anderson said.
Scenes from the crash site showed blue and silver metal from the damaged plane scattered across the grass as a battery of emergency vehicles responded to the incident.
Edited by: Wesley Dockery
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