A Pennsylvania man was among 12 people killed when a skydiving plane crashed moments after takeoff on Sunday at Butler Memorial Airport in Missouri. The Bates County Coroner's Office identified the victims on Tuesday, as federal investigators continued to search for what brought the aircraft down around 11:30 a.m.
Kurt John Roy, 69, of Windber, Pennsylvania, was one of the victims, officials said. Windber is in Somerset County. The victims ranged in age from 23 to 69 and came from several states, including five from Missouri, four from Kansas and one each from Colorado and India. The crash has become a multi-state tragedy, and the names now give families a public confirmation of what many had already feared.
The plane was being operated by Skydive Kansas City, and the National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation. Authorities said skydivers were on board with the pilot when the Pacific Aerospace P750 crashed shortly after leaving the runway in Butler, about 60 miles south of Kansas City. A witness later described the aircraft as coming down almost perpendicular, with the wings pointed toward the sky, before it hit the ground and burst into flames.
The coroner, Jerret Reno, said names were withheld so friends and families could notify extended relatives first. He also said the investigation will take months to complete and touched people nationwide. But one of the biggest questions remains unresolved: investigators said they do not yet know whether the plane had a cockpit or flight data recorder, a detail that could shape how much the crash can be reconstructed later.
The NTSB expects a preliminary report in about 30 days, but the full report will take at least 18 months. Until then, the confirmed facts are stark: 12 people were on the plane, all of them died, and the cause of the crash in Missouri is still unknown.
