{"id":540,"date":"2026-07-05T23:54:38","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T18:54:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=540"},"modified":"2026-07-05T23:54:38","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T18:54:38","slug":"investigators-find-no-evidence-of-engine-failure-in-fiery-crash-of-skydiving-plane-that-killed-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=540","title":{"rendered":"Investigators find no evidence of engine failure in fiery crash of skydiving plane that killed 12"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"prism-article-body\">\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \">Federal safety investigators said in a new preliminary report that they found no indication that engine failure caused the fiery crash of a plane on a skydiving outing last month in Missouri that <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/butler-missouri-plane-crash-dead-0f074de40ce690e76c19ffbe183d1875\">killed all 12 people aboard<\/a>, including several very experienced jumpers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The report issued Thursday by the National Transportation Safety Board also did not flag any other serious safety or mechanical failures that could have led to the crash, which happened just after takeoff on a clear day.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The NTSB released the findings based on initial inspections of the badly damaged wreckage and flight records. The report said there were no indications of any precrash mechanical malfunctions or failures in the engine that would have prevented the normal operation of the plane.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">In fact, NTSB said it appeared that the engine of the single-engine turboprop plane had been producing power at the time of the crash. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cI was surprised that they had determined that the engine was producing power,\u201d said Jeff Guzzetti, president of Guzzetti Aviation Risk Discovery, an aviation safety consultancy. \u201cInitially I thought it smacked of a potential engine problem and that the pilot had been trying to return to the airport.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The federal agency also said a post-accident sample from the fuel truck found the fuel to be free of sediment or debris, and a review of the skydiving business operators\u2019 software showed that the airplane had met the weight and balance limitations for the flight.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The report raised no concerns about the weather or the pilot, who had accumulated over 4,100 total flight hours and was in his second consecutive jump season working for the operator, Skydive Kansas City.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The airplane was not equipped with a crashworthy voice or data recorder, like those that record flight data on commercial planes, nor was it required to be, investigators said. The NTSB report did note, however, that its investigators had recovered damaged GoPro cameras from the wreckage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The federal agency&#8217;s investigation into the accident was ongoing, and a final report often takes a year or more to complete.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The June 14 crash happened about an hour south of Kansas City, when the Pacific Aerospace 750XL carrying a pilot and 11 skydivers took off from Butler Memorial Airport at 11:25 a.m. on a clear day.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">During the initial climb, the airplane began a gradual turn to the left, with both wings eventually becoming almost perpendicular to the ground before it slammed into a field, nose down, and burst into flames, investigators said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The straight up-and-down position of the wings meant they could no longer produce enough aerodynamic lift to keep the plane in the air and the NTSB will have to figure out why that happened, Guzzetti said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The fire inflicted significant damage to the aircraft&#8217;s major structural components, as well as the cockpit, the cabin and the fuel system, investigators said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Some family members of <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/plane-crash-deaths-skydiving-butler-missouri-46747e495c62bd88990c2f443a01e92e\">those who died<\/a> were at the airport to watch the jump and witnessed the crash, authorities said. The United States Parachute Association, skydiving\u2019s governing body, said its technology director, Jen Sharp, <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/plane-crash-deaths-skydiving-butler-missouri-325dcef3a99218ea86be3fbb0dac4f0d\">was among those killed<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Skydive Kansas City called the crash a \u201cdevastating loss.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Poor maintenance is often a factor when skydiving planes crash and the NTSB has previously raised concerns about the <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/skydiving-plane-crash-ntsb-safety-faa-9571b2d035a949550b354b42748629a8\">weak oversight for skydiving operators<\/a> in past crash investigations. The <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ntsb.gov\/news\/press-releases\/Pages\/20210413b.aspx\">agency said<\/a> after a <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/transportation-hawaii-b61bd36563bbc402415e84b43c65572c\">2019 crash<\/a> that killed 11 people in Hawaii that the FAA\u2019s regulatory system isn\u2019t strong enough to ensure the safety of skydiving flights.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The Federal Aviation Administration has yet to adopt the NTSB\u2019s recommendations, but said it established a committee in April that will recommend ways to increase skydiving safety and will consider the safety board\u2019s proposals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The United States Parachute Association said that Skydive Kansas City adheres to the safety standards set by the largest skydiving organization in the world, including all FAA maintenance requirements. The skydiving industry says it has a strong safety record. The association said that last year nearly 3.5 million jumps were completed and that 16 civilians died, the majority from human error.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The plane that crashed was built in 2010, according to FAA records. It made two successful flights the morning of the crash, the NTSB said. It is popular for skydiving and certified to be operated by a single pilot. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">___<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC eTIW sUzSN \">Follow Marc Levy at <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/timelywriter.\">http:\/\/twitter.com\/timelywriter<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Federal safety investigators said in a new preliminary report that they found no indication that engine failure caused the fiery crash of a plane on a skydiving outing last month in Missouri that killed all 12 people aboard, including several very experienced jumpers. The report issued Thursday by the National Transportation Safety Board also did&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":541,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/7714267a-495c-4fd7-a044-d5a391432949\/wirestory_5ec8b109cc7762843b566c4e8b873d87_16x9.jpg?w=1600","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}