Plane crash in Missouri kills 11 skydivers and pilot
Fox News correspondent Todd Piro has reported on a tragic plane crash in Missouri that claimed the lives of 11 skydivers along with their pilot. The aircraft went down shortly after takeoff near Kansas City, with families of the deceased bearing witness to the harrowing sight. Officials from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are currently investigating the incident. Preliminary insights suggest that power issues may have played a role in the crash, but authorities have ruled out any deliberate foul play.
On Sunday, a plane involved in a skydiving event tragically crashed soon after takeoff in northeastern France, resulting in the deaths of all 11 individuals aboard, according to French authorities.
The crash occurred shortly after the plane left Nancy-Essey Airport, as confirmed by the Meurthe-et-Moselle Prefecture on platform X. In response to the crash, local officials swiftly established the department’s operational command center to manage the situation.
According to the Associated Press, the tragic event saw the loss of five parachuting instructors, five novice jumpers preparing for tandem dives, and the pilot, all of whom were aboard the ill-fated flight.
A skydiver is seen exiting a single-engine aircraft during a jump in an undated file photo. In a recent tragic incident, authorities confirmed that 11 people lost their lives following the crash of a skydiving plane shortly after it took off in northeastern France on Sunday. (iStock)
Prefect Yves Séguy told reporters the aircraft suffered a malfunction and “fell almost vertically,” narrowly missing a populated area.
“Had it occurred just a few dozen meters away, the accident could have caused collateral casualties,” Séguy said.
Flight tracking data from Flightradar24 showed the single-engine Pilatus PC-6 banked left shortly after takeoff before crashing less than a minute later near residential homes, about 300 yards from the runway.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said he traveled to the crash site with Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot, where they met with local officials and emergency responders.
Nunez wrote on X that he felt “immense emotion” while meeting with local officials and praised the coordinated response of firefighters, emergency personnel, police, gendarmerie and civil security teams.
He said a medico-psychological emergency unit was activated shortly after the crash to support victims’ loved ones and those who witnessed the tragedy. Some family members waiting at the airport witnessed the crash, according to officials.
Nunez added that the investigation, directed by the Paris prosecutor’s office and assigned to the Air Transport Gendarmerie’s investigative unit, will determine the cause of the crash.
Tabarot described the incident as a “terrible tragedy” and extended his condolences to the victims’ families before traveling to the scene alongside Nunez.
In a later post on X, Tabarot said investigators from France’s Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses had visited the crash site and opened an investigation to determine the precise circumstances of the accident. He also described the crash as France’s deadliest aviation accident involving a skydiving flight in about 30 years.
The parachutists were preparing for tandem jumps, in which novice participants are harnessed to experienced instructors for the descent.
French broadcaster BFM-TV spoke with a local resident who said he heard what sounded like the aircraft’s engine stopping before a loud impact. When he reached the crash site, he said there were no signs of life.
Sunday’s tragedy came just weeks after another deadly skydiving plane crash in the U.S. that killed 12 people about 65 miles outside Kansas City, Missouri.
In that crash, the aircraft was carrying 11 skydivers and a pilot. Many of the passengers were preparing for tandem jumps and were inexperienced first-time skydivers, officials said. Some family members waiting at the airport also witnessed the crash.