STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Some other news now. A plane crashed in Butler, Missouri, on Sunday. Twelve people were killed. Here's Madeline Fox with our member station, KCUR.
MADELINE FOX, BYLINE: The single-engine turboprop took off around 11:30 a.m. from Butler Memorial Airport. It was carrying 11 skydivers plus the pilot, authorities said. The Pacific Aerospace 750 XL plane came down minutes after taking off. Bates County Sheriff Chad Anderson says investigators think that it was an accident.
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CHAD ANDERSON: We just want to reassure the public that there's nothing criminal that we can see, nothing terrorism-related or anything like that. Those are some of the first questions that we would have with the World Cup being in town, and we just want to make sure that the public knows that they're safe.
FOX: Kansas City is one of the 11 U.S. cities hosting FIFA World Cup games and expects hundreds of thousands of visitors. Skydive Kansas City, the company that owned the plane, called the crash a, quote, "devastating loss." The company said it's collaborating with the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration. Of the 11 passengers, seven were single jumpers preparing to skydive solo. Four were tandem jumpers preparing to go in pairs. Authorities have not yet released the victims' names or any identifying information. Sheriff Anderson said family members were at the Butler Memorial Airport at the time of the crash.
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ANDERSON: There's nothing we really can say to make it better. We just pray for them and their loved ones and their friends and their family and hope that they can recover some sense of normalcy, if we can.
FOX: Congressman Mark Alford, who represents the Butler area, told KMBC 9 that the investigation will take months, possibly years.
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MARK ALFORD: Just getting to enjoy God's green earth and then have something like this turn so tragic, while potentially other family members were watching. It's tragic.
FOX: According to the FAA, the aircraft certification was active until January 2030. Butler Memorial Airport is popular with skydivers.
For NPR News, I'm Madeline Fox in Kansas City. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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