June 14 (Reuters) - Eleven skydivers and a pilot died in the crash of a private plane on Sunday in Butler, Missouri, aircraft operator Skydive Kansas City said.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol said the crash occurred near the Butler Memorial Airport, about 60 miles (100 km) south of Kansas City, Missouri.
“Tragically, all 12 individuals aboard lost their lives in the accident,” the skydiving company said.
The names of those involved will not be released until all next of kin have been notified, the company said. It added that it is working closely with local authorities, the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.
The plane took off from Butler Memorial Airport and crashed a short time later, Bates County Sheriff Chad Anderson told reporters on Sunday afternoon.
“This is not a commercial airliner that has crashed; it’s a local airplane that took off from our local airport,” Anderson said. “This appears to be an accident,” Anderson said at a news conference.
Family members of the victims witnessed the crash, he said.
Dennis Jacobs, the acting airport manager and Bates County emergency management director, said the single-engine turboprop airplane took off around 11:20 a.m. CT (1630 GMT) but did not gain visual altitude before making a sharp left turn and crashing some 300 yards (274 m) from the runway.
Officials with the FAA are at the scene of the crash, Anderson said. An NTSB spokesperson said investigators are on their way.
Multiple local fire departments and coroners’ offices responded after an emergency call was made shortly before 11:30 a.m., Anderson said.
(Reporting by Gnaneshwar Rajan; Julie Ingwersen and Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago; Writing by Christian Martinez; Editing by Sergio Non and Edmund Klamann)
