Tributes pour in for KC-area father, drummer killed in plane crash: ‘A huge loss’
He was a well-known drummer in the Kansas City area, a father and someone who loved to skydive with friends.
And in the days since a Sunday plane crash in Butler, Missouri, killed 12, tributes have flooded social media about Dustin McKinney. He was one of the 11 skydivers on board.
“This is a huge loss to the local music community,” wrote the band Waking Demons about McKinney in a Facebook post Sunday night. “He was working his way back into the scene. Recently stepping back on stage to play drums for our brothers in Sidewise.
“... A genuine brother to everyone,” the Waking Demons post said. “An incredible father. And one hell of an adventurer.”
Another friend described McKinney as someone who was “equally enthused and present at his kids’ school activities as he was behind a drum kit, on a yoga mat or skydiving.”
And a man who described McKinney as his closest friend wrote on social media that the world lost someone special: “He was a friend, a mentor, a husband, a father, a son and SO much more to so many people.”
The plane crash happened soon after takeoff at the Butler Memorial Airport and was reported about 11:27 a.m. Sunday. The airport is about an hour’s drive south of Kansas City.
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. It was turning left when it stalled near Interstate 49 Business — a local road that runs between Interstate 49 and the airport.
In addition to McKinney, the names of crash victims identified through tributes by family members, friends and others on social media so far include revered skydiving instructor Jen Sharp, Marcus Miller, Matthew Cole Swope, Michael Shanahan, Dane Cordes, Nick Nash, William Fischer, Blake Thacker and David Hershberger.
A GoFundMe account has been set up for McKinney’s family. As of Tuesday morning, more than $29,000 had been raised.
“His wife and children were his most treasured priority,” the fund created by his wife’s best friend said, “And I know he would want to make sure they are taken care of so, let’s do this for Dustin!”
The fundraiser — which will be used to help ease financial burdens his family may have in the future — described McKinney as an “unapologetically authentic person” who would “help anyone with his caring and love.”
