Federal authorities said a pilot and six passengers on a skydiving flight jumped from a small plane Saturday before the plane crashed into a Missouri field.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said in a statement to Fox News Digital that the single-engine Cessna U206C crashed near Butler Memorial Airport around 1 p.m.
Few details were immediately released about the circumstances leading up to the crash.
The agency said preliminary information indicated the plane was on a “skydiving mission” and that the pilot and all passengers had evacuated before the crash.
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The wreckage of the single-engine Cessna U206C was found in a hayfield east of the airport’s runway. (Bates County Sheriff’s Office)
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed to Fox News Digital that seven people were on board the plane at the time of the flight.
The Bates County Sheriff’s Office said the pilot, who parachuted out of the plane, was in a hangar at the airport, and six passengers also parachuted out of the plane before it crashed. KCTV reported.
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Emergency personnel treated the pilot and passenger at the scene and all have since been released from the hospital, the sheriff’s office said.
Emergency responders found the wreckage of the plane in a hayfield east of the airport’s runway, according to the sheriff’s office, which described the plane as a “total loss.”
NTSB investigators plan to recover the wreckage and transport it to an off-site facility for further examination.
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Butler Memorial Airport is located approximately 62 miles south of Kansas City.
