Twelve Die in Missouri Skydiving Plane Crash Near Butler Memorial Airport

A skydiving airplane crashed shortly after takeoff from Butler Memorial Airport in Butler, Missouri, on Sunday, June 14, 2026, killing twelve people. Some family members of the victims watched the crash from the ground at the airport. The plane was a single-engine turboprop Pacific Aerospace 750XL, which is popular for skydiving operations because its nine rear seats can be removed to create space for jumpers.

The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash and release preliminary details over the next month. The agency will publish its final report on the cause after one year or more. Just two years earlier, another skydiving plane crashed near the same airport, but all aboard parachuted to safety beforehand.

In that incident, the NTSB found that a skydiver’s emergency parachute handle got caught, sending the skydiver into the plane’s horizontal stabilizer and causing the crash. Aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti, who previously served as a crash investigator for both the NTSB and FAA, stated that skydiving crash investigations too often reveal lax maintenance and weak safety culture.

He said skydiving operations do not undergo the same maintenance scrutiny as air charter services.

The NTSB stated after a 2019 skydiving plane crash that killed 11 people in Hawaii that the FAA’s regulatory system is not strong enough to ensure skydiving flight safety. In that crash, investigators found the plane’s wing had been twisted in a previous incident several years earlier and was never repaired. FAA inspections before the 2019 crash failed to detect the damaged left wing.

In a previous review of 32 skydiving accidents occurring between 1980 and 2008, the NTSB found recurring shortcomings in maintenance, inspections, and pilot training. The FAA did not implement NTSB recommendations to strengthen safety standards for skydiving companies following that review. The skydiving industry reports a low fatality rate overall.