Plane carrying 12 skydivers crashes in Missouri, killing all aboard

A plane carrying 12 people planning to spend the day skydiving has crashed in Missouri, killing all aboard, authorities say.

The plane, carrying a pilot and 11 passengers, crashed near the Butler Memorial Airport, located roughly 105 kilometres south of Kansas City.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol said in a statement that troopers were at the crash site.

Missouri Highway Patrol said the plane was taking people up to skydive.

Emergency responders got a call that a plane was down and engulfed in flames around 11.30am Sunday, local time, he said.

"It landed in a field adjacent to the airport, but I think they're shutting down the roadway just as a precaution," Ewing said.

Plane had just taken off

A heap of blue and silver mangled metal lay in the grass near the airport with a massive line-up of emergency vehicles on the street beside it.

Teams from the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration were en route to the crash site to investigate, according to the Missouri State Patrol.

Skydive Kansas City operated the private plane, said Dennis Jacobs, the acting airport manager and Bates County Emergency Management Agency director.

"It had just taken off and made a left turn" before the crash, Mr Jacobs said.

"In my opinion, I think it was losing power, and he was trying to make it over to the highway and land, and he stalled and went down nose first and caught fire."

Emergency responders were able to put out the fire shortly after the crash, he said.

First responders have checked the area under the flight path and did not find anyone who might have tried to jump out before the crash, Mr Jacobs said.

The Pacific Aerospace 750XL that crashed is a single-engine turboprop plane that's popular for skydiving but has also proven useful for other uses, including cargo, aerial surveying, and medical evacuation flights.

Investigations into the crash are ongoing

The aircraft can carry up to 17 skydivers and can take off and land on short runways.

The plane that crashed Saturday was manufactured in 2010, according to FAA records.

The small airport serves around 30 privately owned aircraft, including crop-dusting companies and skydiving operators, Highway Patrol said.

Skydiving companies operate in the region for eight or nine months a year, with the season usually starting in late March or early April and lasting into October or November.

It's not yet known which factors may have contributed to or caused the crash.

Aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti said that poor maintenance has been a factor in several previous skydiving plane crashes because these companies are not held to high standards under FAA rules.

Mr Guzzetti said skydiving companies are governed by the same rules that any private plane owner has to follow, not the more stringent rules that charter flight operators and airlines adhere to.

"There's been a whole history of skydiving accidents for inadequate maintenance and deficient safety culture," said Mr Guzzetti.