Butler crash is 2nd in KC region with suspected engine trouble on planes tied to firm
The plane crash that killed 12 this month in Butler, Missouri, was the second major incident in a year in the Kansas City region involving an aircraft used by Skydive Kansas City where engine trouble was suspected.
Hours after the plane went down June 14, a former Department of Transportation Inspector General told The Star that “my first guess would be there was a problem with the engine.”
And last year, after a plane crash-landed June 16 on the roof of a Johnson County airport hangar, authorities said the pilot had lost control and suspected a mechanical failure. Though the plane was headed for routine repairs and not on a skydiving operation, sources say that Skydive Kansas City had also been using the aircraft during that time frame.
It could be up to two years before the National Transportation Safety Board issues its final investigative report on the cause of the Butler crash. And the safety board’s report on the cause of last year’s crash is pending.
But in both cases, experts and investigators quickly surmised that engine failure topped the list of possible causes.
Skydiving crash in Butler, Missouri
Eleven skydivers and the pilot were killed in the June 14 crash at the Butler Memorial Airport, which is about an hour’s drive south of Kansas City. The crash was reported at 11:27 a.m that Sunday, which was shortly after takeoff.
The Pacific Aerospace 750XL — a popular model for skydiving — 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.
It was the aircraft’s third flight that morning.
Skydive Kansas City did not respond to a request for comment. The “Book Now” section of its website now says “no times available.”
The company issued a statement the day of the crash, calling it “a devastating loss for everyone connected to Skydive Kansas City and for the wider skydiving community.”
The statement also said that Skydive KC said it was working with local authorities, the Federal Aviation Administration and the NTSB.
A crash landing in Johnson County
On June 16 last year, a Beechcraft King Air 90 crash landed onto the roof of a hangar at New Century AirCenter in Johnson County, Kansas.
“That was their (Skydive Kansas City) primary jump plane that they were leasing from a local Kansas City person,” said Charles Crinklaw, central regional director of the United States Parachute Association. “And then obviously after that happened, they had to find another aircraft.”
At the time of that crash, the plane was flying in for some radio or avionics repairs.
“So it wasn’t even during the skydiving operations,” Crinklaw said.
The aircraft was headed south when a malfunction caused the left engine to become inoperable, a Kansas Highway Patrol crash report said. The pilot lost control of the plane while turning left and crashed into the building, the report said.
The pilot, Leslie Gorden, then 73, of Lee’s Summit, and a 30-year-old trainee received minor injuries, authorities said.
An NTSB aviation investigation notification shows the plane was operated by L&P Air LLC. The company was registered with the Missouri Secretary of State in 2011 and gave its stated purpose as “hauling skydivers up to 14,000 feet to jump.”
Gorden is listed as the company’s registered agent, corporation records show. He holds an airline transport pilot certificate from the FAA. He could not be reached for comment.
Crash soon after takeoff
Mary Schiavo, who served as DOT inspector general from 1990 to 1996, called the crash in Butler earlier this month “heartbreaking” and “terribly tragic.”
“The first time I heard about it, they said that it appeared that they had lost power, lost thrust, and I thought, ‘Oh boy, engine failure on takeoff with a fully loaded plane — that’s hard,’” she said.
Schiavo said the plane is a “pretty typical” aircraft for skydiving.
“And that engine, Pratt & Whitney, the PT6A-34, that’s not a lawn mower engine, that’s powerful enough for the plane,” she said. “It shouldn’t have been underpowered with an engine like that.”
Schiavo noted that authorities said the plane wasn’t getting enough power on takeoff.
“So it very easily could have had an engine failure,” she said.
“So I’m sure that the NTSB will be looking at what was the response to the emergency, because it does seem like, at this early stage of the process, something was wrong with the plane.”
Another crash at Butler Memorial Airport
Before those two crashes in the past year, there was one in 2024 at the Butler Memorial Airport.
In that one, the engine wasn’t at fault, authorities said. The crash occurred in May 2024 after a skydiver’s parachute deployed over the plane’s tail, striking the stabilizer and sending the aircraft out of control, according to an NTSB report.
The NTSB investigation said the pilot reported that the first jumper scraped his emergency parachute handle while making his way toward the jump door. The man’s emergency parachute deployed outside the airplane, dragging him into the horizontal stabilizer.
The pilot managed to release his seat restraints, open a cargo door, deploy his emergency parachute and jump as the plane spiraled into a field, the report said.
All six skydivers and the pilot made it down safely, but the first jumper sustained serious injuries.
Dennis Jacobs, acting manager of the Butler airport, said the three crashes from 2024 to 2026 were a situation of “bad timing.” He said he didn’t see it as a pattern or a safety concern overall.
“It’s just unfortunate circumstances,” Jacobs said. “It’s psychologically damaging.”
As for Skydive Kansas City, which operates out of Butler, Jacobs offered praise.
“Their whole operation here is nothing but professional.”
