Cessna U206 N29173

Summary

On 25 May 2024 at about 18:00 local time, a Cessna U206 registered N29173 was involved in an accident near Butler, Missouri, United States. 7 people were on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

25 May 2024 at 18:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Butler, Missouri, United States

Nearest airport

Butler Meml (BUM)

Coordinates

38.2887, -94.3385

Aircraft

Cessna U206

Registration

N29173

Category

Airplane

Year built

1968

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Skydiving

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN24LA197

1 person was seriously injured.

The jumper’s unintentional deployment of his emergency parachute and subsequent impact with the airplane’s horizontal stabilizer.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that during a skydiving flight, the first jumper scraped his emergency parachute handle while moving toward the jump door. The jumper’s emergency parachute deployed out of the airplane and subsequently drug him into the horizontal stabilizer. The pilot stated that he heard a loud “bang” and focused on maintaining control of the airplane. After the remaining jumpers exited the airplane, the nose of the airplane “dropped straight down.” The pilot was able to release his seat restraints, open a cargo door and exit the airplane. The pilot noticed the airplane’s empennage was bent as it spiraled into a field. The pilot opened his emergency parachute and landed safely with the other jumpers. The first jumper sustained serious injuries. The airplane was destroyed when it impacted a field near the departure airport. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. According to the first jumper, his D-ring style emergency parachute handle (Figure 1) was unknowingly caught on something. While he was positioning himself to the aft door, still unaware of the handle being caught, the ripcord was pulled about 4 inches causing the emergency parachute to deploy and subsequently pulled him into the airplane’s empennage. Figure 1. Emergency parachute deployment handle (circled in red)

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.