12 dead after skydiving plane crashes in Missouri

+ Accessibility links Skip to main content Keyboard shortcuts for audio player Open Navigation Menu --> Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Close Navigation Menu Home News Expand/collapse submenu for News National World Politics Business Health Science Climate Race Culture Expand/collapse submenu for Culture Books Movies Television Pop Culture Food Art & Design Performing Arts Life Kit Gaming Music Expand/collapse submenu for Music Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions Podcasts & Shows Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows Daily Morning Edition Weekend Edition Saturday Weekend Edition Sunday All Things Considered Up First Here & Now NPR Politics Podcast Featured Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics 12 dead after skydiving plane crashes in Missouri Authorities say 11 skydivers and a pilot are presumed dead after a single-engine turboprop plane crashed Sunday near Butler, Missouri. National 12 dead after skydiving plane crashes in Missouri June 15, 20264:44 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition From By Madeline Fox 12 dead after skydiving plane crashes in Missouri Listen &middot; 2:01 2:01 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5857730/nx-s1-9810541" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript Authorities say 11 skydivers and a pilot are presumed dead after a single-engine turboprop plane crashed Sunday near Butler, Missouri. Sponsor Message STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: Some other news now. A plane crashed in Butler, Missouri, on Sunday. Twelve people were killed. Here's Madeline Fox with our member station, KCUR.

+ MADELINE FOX, BYLINE: The single-engine turboprop took off around 11:30 a.m. from Butler Memorial Airport. It was carrying 11 skydivers plus the pilot, authorities said. The Pacific Aerospace 750 XL plane came down minutes after taking off. Bates County Sheriff Chad Anderson says investigators think that it was an accident. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) CHAD ANDERSON: We just want to reassure the public that there's nothing criminal that we can see, nothing terrorism-related or anything like that. Those are some of the first questions that we would have with the World Cup being in town, and we just want to make sure that the public knows that they're safe. FOX: Kansas City is one of the 11 U.S. cities hosting FIFA World Cup games and expects hundreds of thousands of visitors. Skydive Kansas City, the company that owned the plane, called the crash a, quote, "devastating loss." The company said it's collaborating with the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration. Of the 11 passengers, seven were single jumpers preparing to skydive solo. Four were tandem jumpers preparing to go in pairs. Authorities have not yet released the victims' names or any identifying information. Sheriff Anderson said family members were at the Butler Memorial Airport at the time of the crash. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) ANDERSON: There's nothing we really can say to make it better. We just pray for them and their loved ones and their friends and their family and hope that they can recover some sense of normalcy, if we can. FOX: Congressman Mark Alford, who represents the Butler area, told KMBC 9 that the investigation will take months, possibly years. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) MARK ALFORD: Just getting to enjoy God's green earth and then have something like this turn so tragic, while potentially other family members were watching. It's tragic. FOX: According to the FAA, the aircraft certification was active until January 2030. Butler Memorial Airport is popular with skydivers. For NPR News, I'm Madeline Fox in Kansas City. Copyright &copy; 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. Facebook Flipboard Email Read & Listen Home News Culture Music Podcasts & Shows Connect Newsletters Facebook Instagram Press Public Editor Corrections Transcripts Contact & Help About NPR Overview Diversity NPR Network Accessibility Ethics Finances Get Involved Support Public Radio Sponsor NPR NPR Careers NPR Shop NPR Extra Terms of Use Privacy Your Privacy Choices Text Only Sponsor Message Sponsor Message Become an NPR sponsor (function () { var loadPageJs = function () { (window.webpackJsonp=window.webpackJsonp||[]).push([[22],{309:function(e,n,o){o.p=NPR.serverVars.webpackPublicPath,Promise.all([o.e(1),o.e(2),o.e(3),o.e(4),o.e(81)]).then((e=>{o(15),o(770),o(154),o(175),o(93),o(448),o(253),o(128),o(130),o(755),o(174),o(756),o(254),o(77),o(774)}).bind(null,o)).catch(o.oe)},783:function(e,n,o){e.exports=o(309)}},[[783,0]]]); }; if (document.readyState === 'complete') { loadPageJs(); } else { window.addEventListener('load', function load() { window.removeEventListener('load', load, false); loadPageJs(); }); } })();