Skydive Kansas City prepares statement after plane crash kills 12 in Butler, Missouri
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Skydive Kansas City is preparing a statement but hasn't confirmed involvement.
- Sunday takeoff crash killed 12; the plane was locally based and 10-person.
- FAA and NTSB will investigate after the low‑wing turboprop failed to reach full power.
A skydiving company that operates out of Butler, Missouri, has said it is preparing a news release after a crash Sunday that killed 12 people.
The crash killed a pilot and 11 skydivers, according to Bate County Emergency Management officials.
The company, Skydive Kansas City, has not yet confirmed that its plane was involved in the crash in Bates County, but the company does operate out of the Butler Memorial Airport, where the crash occurred.
Skydive Kansas City has been in business since 1998, according to its website, and was purchased by Bucketlist Experience in 2024. The company also operates skydiving companies out of Indianapolis and Rock County, Wisconsin. Bucketlist Experience officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The crash happened during takeoff and was reported about 11:27 a.m., Bates County Sheriff Chad Anderson said in a news conference Sunday afternoon. The plane was a locally-based, 10-person aircraft. Officials from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will be conducting an investigation into the crash, Anderson said.
The low-wing, single-engine turboprop plane was not able to make it to full power, according to officials with the Bates County Emergency Management Agency. The plane was turning left when it stalled near Interstate 49 Business — a local road that runs between Interstate 49 and the airport.
The plane had made several trips over the last few days, according to flight records, including one early Sunday morning.
The plane is registered to a company out of Jasper, Tennessee, according to flight registration information.
Video from the scene of the crash shows firefighters near a smoking pile of debris.
The Bates County Sheriff’s Office shared at 11:52 a.m. that Interstate 49 Business near the airport “is shut down in both directions for an undetermined amount of time.”
In 2024, a skydiving plane crashed near the Butler Memorial Airport after a skydiver’s parachute deployed over a small plane’s tail, causing damage that sent the aircraft out of control, according to a Federal Aviation Administration report. No one was injured.
The Star’s Eleanor Nash contributed.
This story was originally published June 14, 2026 at 3:51 PM.
